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Approximate expenses for higher education
are 1.6% of GDP of the definite state (the average amount of the states of
OECD).
5.4 To turn to the financing of the
institutions of higher education giving subsidies per a student accordingly
to the programme costs including:
5.4.1 financing for assurance of
maintaining and development of the institutions of higher education;
5.4.2 financing for teaching and studies as the normative financing
in accordance with the ratios of costs of the programmes of studies and the
number of students;
5.4.3 financing for the researches assuring studies and for the
terms of practice;
5.4.4 financing for the renewal of the materio-technical basis and
the infrastructure of higher education and for the assurance of a fastened
renewal of the academic staff in the programmes of studies for obtaining
doctor's degree;
5.4.5 financing of the transition period in order to ensure the
necessary work of the scientific institutions integrated in higher
educational institutions.
5.5 To develop the programmes of
education of all the 8 under-categories in the degree of higher education
in accordance with the "Classification of Education of the Republic of
Latvia".
The improvement of the programmes of the professional studies is to be
connected with one's practice and the future places of work. It is
advisable to work out the programme of the forming of professional colleges
and higher professional education as well as the necessary budget financing
for the formation of the basis for teaching and practice. It is especially
necessary to develop in fastened tempos 3 types of the professional
programmes:
5.5.1 practically-oriented programmes of
short-time studies in the colleges of higher education;
5.5.2 the programmes of mid-length studies in the professional
institutions of higher education;
5.5.3 the programmes of studies of higher professional education
(the institutions of higher education of the type of university) and the
programmes of the additional education.
5.6 It is advisable to use two types of
divisions - the university type of higher education and the non -
university type of higher education in the statistics of higher education
for classification, internationally comparable, regarding the university
type of higher education being:
5.6.1 the academic education the
obtaining of which means the obtaining of the bachelor's degree, the
master's degree or any other degree equivalent to the academic degrees
obtained in the institutions of higher education abroad;
5.6.2 the higher professional education in the programmes or
institutions of higher education of the university type. It is necessary to
admit that the professional programmes of the studies of the university
type that are based on a wide foundation of general education in the
humanities and academic sciences are to go on during the period not less
than 4 years, parallel to academically oriented programmes of studies; the
academic standardised part in the above mentioned programmes makes not less
than 80 credit points; the professional programmes of studies of the
university type are connected with science and research. It is necessary to
change the legislation prognosticating a possibility to continue directly
the studies for obtaining the master's and doctor's degree after graduating
the professional institutions of higher education of the university type.
5.7 The non - university type of higher
education is:
5.7.1 a degree of the professional higher
education of a short period of studies (2- 3 years) after finishing of
which one can obtain a certificate of qualification in a certain
speciality;
5.7.2 a degree of professional higher education of medium duration
(3 and more years) obtained in the professional institutions of higher
education together with the diploma of professional qualification. The
demand is- to classify the programmes and sub-categories of an education in
strong accordance with "The Classification of Education of the Republic of
Latvia" (1997).
5.8 To improve the system of statistics
of education forming a co-ordinated system with the countries of EU,
corresponding to "The Classification of Education of the Republic of
Latvia" and the international demands including an automatized transmission
of the data among the Ministry of Education and Science and all the
institutions of higher education of Latvia as well as the programmes of
studies, the registers of the academic staff and the students.
5.9 More and more means will be necessary for the process of
development of the university type of education to reach the level of
scientific quality, it is inevitably connected with the process of
modernization and progress of education and science. Therefore it is
necessary to balance an economically endurable and qualitatively
corresponding demands, planing it till the year 2005.17% of the number of
students involved in the basic studies continue them in order to obtain the
master's degree each year. The number of the students is correspondingly
50% of the number of students involved in the basic studies in the
universities. Not less than 4% of the students continue their studies in
order to obtain the doctor's degree (the number of the students is
mentioned regarding October 1-st of the 1-st year of studies in the
institutions of higher education founded by the state).The number of the
students learning in the institutions of higher education (the state budget
means) and their division into 9 groups of subjects of education is to be
planed in accordance with "The Classification of Education of the Republic
of Latvia" and the orientation of the state of Latvia in the development of
higher education towards the model of the most developed European countries
of social orientation (Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Belgium,
the Netherlands).
5.10 In order to assure the quality of studies and indivisibility of
research and accordingly to the remarkable increase of the number of
students in the period after 1993,it is necessary to increase the number of
professors working in the institutions of higher education, it being their
principal work, at least for 1.5 times, to elect the professors and
associated professors in accordance with "The Statute of the Institutions
of Higher Education" beginning with the academic year 1997/98.The number of
professors in the universities is to be not less than 17% of the number of
the academic staff.
5.10.1 In order to assure a normal
process of renewal of the academic staff and to form the national
professorship it is necessary to open the programmes of studies for
obtaining the doctor's degree by financing the special purpose programmes
every year with the help of the Councils of Grants of the universities
formed for planing the number of the candidates for the doctor's degree and
the groups of professors for directing the programmes;
5.10.2 To form a system of self-appraisal of the quality of studies
in the institutions of higher education developing the process of
self-appraisal and forming it to be the foundation for an international
accreditation and assessment system of the quality of studies in the
institution of higher education;
5.10.3 It is advisable to pass over to an internationally comparable
mono-stage system of the scientific degrees of the doctors during the 2
nearest years improving the level of the doctor's scientific and general
academic area of authority promoting the demands for obtaining the doctor's
degree in science;
5.11 It is advisable to use the following scale
of salaries for the full-time workers of the academic staff:
5.11.1 the professorate salary - Ls
350.00 ( 100% );
5.11.2 the associated professor's salary - 80% of the professorate
salary;
5.11.3 the associate professor's salary - 80% of the associated
professor's salary;
5.11.4 the lector's salary - 80% of the associated professor's
salary;
5.12 To fasten the arranging of the
process of integration of science and higher education determining a
formation of two kinds of the institutions of higher educational
establishments:
5.12.1 the institutes as the structural
units of the establishments of higher education (faculties) in the frames
of subject groups or spheres (branches or sub- branches of science);
5.12.2 the institutes as legal independent units including the
structure of the scientific centres of the state importance;
5.13 To form the National Fund of the
social grants for indigent students and the National Fund being the support
of education for the foreign studies of the most brilliant students;
5.14 The teaching staff for the stage of higher education and the teachers
for the general-secondary education are to be prepared only in the
universities or in the institutions of higher education equal to them
giving to the students knowledge and skills in the pedagogic and didactics
in the universities;
6.TIME SLICES OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT
6.1 Transition to Crediting Studies (part
4, the versions of development of crediting studies):
6.1.1 elaboration of the necessary
legislation and resolutions in the academic year 1998/1999;
6.1.2 foundation of the Fund of Studies,1999;
6.1.3 gradual implementation of crediting studies- beginning with
1999;
The Ministry of Education and Science admits crediting of studies to be an
optimal version that is to be developed further using means of the state
budget (The 1st version of the 2nd appendix).
6.2 Approbation of higher professional
education type (college education) - till the year 2000;
6.3 Elections of professorate in accordance with the demands
determined in clause 28 of the Statute of Higher Educational Institutions -
till the year 2003;
6.4 Elections of associated professors in accordance with the
demands determined in clause 30 of the Statute of Higher Educational
Institution - till the year 2003;
6.5 Transition to financing the higher educational institutions by the
help of grants per a student according to the costs of the programmes of
studies - till the year 2005;
6.6 Accreditation of all the programmes of studies and all the
institutions of higher education:
6.6.1 accreditation of the programmes of studies
of social sciences - till the year 1998;
6.6.2 accreditation of the programmes of studies of the humanities -
till the year 1999;
6.6.3 accreditation of the programmes of studies of engineering -
till the year 1999;
6.6.4 accreditation of the programmes of studies of agricultural
sciences (agriculture) - till the year 2000;
6.6.5 accreditation of the programmes of studies of medical sciences -
till the year 2001;
6.6.6 accreditation of the programmes of studies of natural sciences
- till the year 2001;
6.6.7 accreditation of higher educational establishments as the
institutions - till the year 2002;
7.THE DESCRIPTION OF THE NECESSARY DEEDS OF RIGHTS
7.1 The Ministry of Education and Science
is to assure the working-out of the normative documents that are necessary
to perform the strategic guidelines and tasks put forward in the basic
theses of the Concept:
7.1.1 the Statement of the Work of the
Cabinet about crediting studies;
7.1.2 the Statement of the Work of the Cabinet about financing the
higher educational institutions determining financing per a student in
accordance with the costs of the programmes of studies.
7.2 To add to the statutes and
legislation and resolutions of higher education and science concerning:
7.2.1 the length of studies;
7.2.2 the colleges of higher education;
7.2.3 the professional education and the teachers' education;
7.2.4 the procedure of the tuition fee - the part that is incurred
by the state and that one - incurred by the students;
7.2.5 the crediting of the students and paying off the credit;
7.2.6 the regulations of the procedure of managing the property of
the institutions of higher education and the control of its usage as well
as making the property mentioned above tax-free;
7.2.7 the institutes of the universities, the Councils of Grants for
obtaining the doctors' degrees, the programmes of studies and the salaries
of the academic staff;
7.2.8 a unified system of registration of the credit points of the
programmes of studies and the European system of transferring the credit
points.
7.3 To harmonize "The Statute of the
Institutions of Higher Education" with "The Statute of Education", "The
Statute of Professional Education" and "The Statute of General Education"
after accepting them.
Appendix
FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS NECESSARY FOR THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
The volume of means necessary for the institutions of higher education
can be calculated by the help of methods worked out by the Ministry of
Education and Science (MES) "The procedure of covering by the state the
tuition for those studying in the institutions of higher education". The
methods point out the costs of studies of a separate individual to be the
basis; the costs are calculated for more inexpensive programmes of studies
(for administrators), but the costs of the rest programmes of studies are
calculated by multiplying the costs of more inexpensive programmes of
studies with the ratio of costs of conformable programme of studies.
With the ratios of costs of studies (table No.1) different costs for
different programmes of studies are taken into consideration. Studies of
engineering and natural sciences request for laboratories- additional
premises, equipment, apparatus, stuff, e.g.; it forms additional expenses:
purchase of equipment, maintaining order, insurance of operation. More
inexpensive programmes of studies, e.g., justice sciences, social and
behaviour sciences, on the contrary, do not request for such laboratories
with complicated equipment. The ratios of the costs of studies are put into
practice in numerous countries. Analogical ratios of the costs of studies
for financial projections are put into practice in Estonia, Lithuania,
Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic and other countries. The relative costs
of different programmes of studies in connection to one another are
correlatively unchangeable and this proportion remains the same in the
ratios of the costs for studies of different countries - table No.2
reflects the budget projections necessary for institutions of higher
education that are under the authority of the Ministry of Education and
Science (MES). In order to align with the "ceiling" of the budget defined
by the programme "Higher Education" the ratios of the costs for studies are
to be lessened essentially. If the optimal costs of ratios for studies are
used for budget projections (the last column of the table No.2) then the
necessary financing is about 40% - 50% larger than the costs defined in the
budget.
The projections show that the financing for higher education is to be
accordingly larger (about 40% - 50%) than it is now. It is confirmed by the
analysis of the expenses of the institutions of higher education, as well;
it is seen here that an essential part of the costs are formed of the costs
for power resources but the means for insurance the process of studying are
lessened extremely and the means for development of the basis of higher
educational institutions are not planed at all.
THE CONCLUSION
The Council of Higher Education has worked out the foundations of this
Concept. The working group under the guidance of Dr. habil. oec. Baiba
Rivza, the assistant members being:
Egons Lavendelis, Dr. habil. sc. ing.
Janis Cakste, Dr. chem.
Peteris Cimdins¸, Dr. habil. biol.
Juris Zakis, Dr. habil. phys.
Talis Millers, Dr. chem.
Juris Bundulis, Dr. chem.
Arnolds Klotins¸, Dr.art.
Andris Glazitis, Dr. med.
Atis Kapenieks, Dr. phys.
Janis Eglitis, M. sc.
Maris Eglite, B. sc.
Velta Vikmane, Dr. philol.
had handed them in for an accept in the Ministry of Education and Science;
the Concept was accepted during the meeting of the governing body on March
3,1998 after discussion in the Department commission as well as in the work
commission. This Concept is advanced to the Cabinet being a result of a
common work of the Council of Higher Education and the Ministry of
Education and Science. "The National Concept of the Development of Higher
Education and the Institutions of Higher Education of the Republic of
Latvia" had been reviewed during the meeting of the Cabinet of the Republic
of Latvia on July 28, 1998 and accepted as known there. |
