Le point de vue de la socité européenne des formations d'ingénieurs (SEFI)

SEFI‚s Opinion on the Joint Declaration of the European Ministers of Education, signed in Bologna.
SEFI welcomes the important initiative taken by the European ministers of Education in signing the Joint Declaration in Bologna in June last year.
SEFI strongly supports the idea of the creation of a European Higher Education Area.
SEFI wishes to make the following general comments:

• SEFI shares the opinion of the Ministers concerning the need for a system
  of easily readable and comparable degrees, through a Diploma Supplement or
  otherwise
• SEFI supports a wider use of the ECTS system as a proper means to promote
  student mobility,
• SEFI is convinced of the importance of an increased mobility for students
  and teachers, researchers and administrative staff and it does in many ways
  promote such mobility,
• SEFI is already in its statutes committed to the idea of developing the
  European dimension in Education. It does so primarily by serving as a
  network of engineering educators and a meeting place for discussion and
  information as well as through the activities of its working groups, for
  instance for curriculum development,
• SEFI shares the opinion of the European Ministers concerning the
  importance of European cooperation in quality assurance and accreditation.
  Engineering Education programmes are already in certain countries in Europe
  accredited by competent bodies
• SEFI welcomes any initiative leading to a
  common reflection, aiming at a deeper understanding and cooperation between
  these agencies. SEFI is fully prepared to pursue its action in this area, in
  cooperation with these accreditation agencies and other organisations.

  
  The Ministers also commit themselves to the adoption of an education system
  based on two main cycles, where already the first cycle shall be relevant to
  the labour market and where the second should lead to a Master‚s degree.
  The introduction of larger number of Master‚s degree programmes, building on
  Bachelor‚s degrees, will no doubt make European Engineering Education more
  attractive for non-European students, especially if the programmes are run
  entirely or partly in English. It will also facilitate student mobility
  within Europe. SEFI therefore welcomes a large scale introduction of
  separate 1-2 year Master‚s Programmes in Engineering.
  The particular conditions and circumstances for Engineering Education must,
  however, be taken into consideration. It is often said that the educational
  systems across Europe are very different. This may be true in some fields,
  but in Engineering Education the systems are already in many respects
  similar. There are many reasons behind this similarity. One reason is the
  international character of the engineering profession. Another is the
  influence that the classical German (and Swiss) technical university has had
  as a model for many other European countries. SEFI and other
  organisations have also contributed to a certain convergence of ideas.
  Higher engineering education in Europe has two distinct types of curricula.
  Both of these have been developed to respond to particular needs of industry
  and graduates of both types of curricula are well received by the job
  market.
  There is today a high degree of consensus that the professional engineering
  degree should take about five years following secondary school. One
  exception here is the United Kingdom, which has traditionally accepted the
  three-years honours degree as an adequate university education for a
  professional engineer, but their system of separate professional recognition
  adds further years of practical training to the qualification requirements.
  Recently, Britain has moved in the direction of its European partners by
  making the four-year MEng-degree the minimum academic requirement for
  professional recognition.
  Most European countries also have some form of shorter Engineering
  Education. The length and character of these curricula may vary slightly
  from country to country, but they have normally two factors in common; they
  are more vocationally oriented than the longer programmes and, although
  bridges normally exist, are not primarily designed as a first part of a
  two-tier system. Graduates of these programmes play a particularly important
  role in small and medium-sized enterprises.
  SEFI is convinced that this existing European system for Engineering
  Education has much merit, that the system is quite compatible with the
  vision of a European Higher Education Area and that it should not be
  sacrificed. The cultural diversity of Europe is also a source of richness
  and changes in the architecture of Engineering Education must not be allowed
  to destroy this richness.
  This does of course not exclude the creation of a two-tier Bachelor/Master
  system also in Engineering, whenever this is judged appropriate. The goal of
  such a Bachelor‚s degree should normally be kept distinct from the goal of
  the existing, vocationally oriented, short cycle engineering curricula. The
  Master‚s degree should be equivalent to the existing 5-year degrees.
  It is also essential that changes of the organisation of engineering studies
  take into account the ongoing mutation of the transfer of knowledge and the
  emergence of virtual universities, flexible learning and distance education.
  SEFI‚s view is thus that:
  - any reform of the structure of European Engineering Education must take
  the particular conditions for this field of education into account,
  - the existing European integrated 5-year curricula in engineering are
  compatible with the idea of a European Education area,
  - the existing European system of longer integrated curricula leading
  straight to a Master‚s Degree in Engineering should be conserved, possibly
  in parallel with a two-tier Bachelor/Master system,
  - the longer as well as the shorter, more vocationally oriented, curriculum
  correspond to a clear need and that graduates from both types have a good
  position on the job market,
  - the specific qualities of the present, existing, short cycle Engineering
  Education Pro-grammes should be recognised and safe-guarded,
  - the creation of new 1-2 year Master‚s programmes in Engineering should be
  encouraged.

La

Les systèmes européens

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