D. “Step-up’’ of T.E.I.
Arising from the law about the “Structure of Higher Education and setting of themes of its technological section’’ which was given to publicity, the government uses T.E.I. for the beginning of applying the Bologna Declaration.
Incorporation of T.E.I. is not accompanied by any changes in their character, being subordinate to Universities, which offer in the half cost, a low quality technological education, ossificatory by its theoretical background and in some cases experiential.
This account comes out of a succession, of crucial importance, points of the law:
“Step-up’’ of T.E.I. is not a simple maintenance of today’s reality, which opens a perspective of their substantial ‘’step-up’’ in the future. A – without any step-up-input of T.E.I. in Higher education starts the application of Bologna’s decisions about the debasement of undergraduate studies of Universities, since T.E.I. degrees are the “first academic title’’, similar to bachelors, with which University degrees will become equal. Simultaneously, progress for T.E.I. are negative, since the law keeps open the issue of an even bigger debasement of their studies, by reforming study schedules in the direction of a due, practical and “flexible’’ knowledge, after inputting a credit point system. That is if law quality and cost of University studies force their graduates to a continuous alternation of training and professions that will concern a bigger part T.E.I. graduates. Consequences of application of Bologna’s decisions will stand multiple for T.E.I. because they start from a lower level. Consequently, “step-up’’ of T.E.I. marks the downwards leveling of Universities and T.E.I., that must be confronted in common.
Mature withdrawal of distinction between Universities and T.E.I., presupposes conditions of a substantial “step-up’’ and composition of a distinct system of public and free professional learning.
Incorporation of T.E.I. is not accompanied by any changes in their character, being subordinate to Universities, which offer in the half cost, a low quality technological education, ossificatory by its theoretical background and in some cases experiential.
This account comes out of a succession, of crucial importance, points of the law:
- T.E.I. are subsumed in Higher Education with a “distinct’’ role as non-university-technological institutions, next to other university institutions with the exact same object like Technical Universities, Agricultural Universities etc.
- Graduates obtain the same degree and maintain the same, diminished, professional rights that have been shaped for restricted specialties before the “step-up’’. These professional rights will be removed by following the common destiny of working rights of all the categories of graduates.
- The structure of levels of didactic staff of T.E.I. is at one level lower of the one of Universities’, so in T.E.I., the first level of University professors cannot exist. Simultaneously, the majority of didactic staff (50%-90% in county T.E.I.) are still time-workers.
- In T.E.I., it is not allowed to organise autonomously graduate studies, that is to reproduce their scientific potential and, consequently, potentialities of conducting researches remain restricted. Technically, graduates obtain the possibility to access graduate studies of Universities, which is anticipated from the previous structural frame of T.E.I. which, actually, cannot be applied, except from foreign, low level, Universities.
- There is no anticipation for a substantial raise of financing for T.E.I. – several indefinite suggestions exist in the preliminary plan -, many departments of which function without even buildings of their own, with tremendous lacks in materials. Laboratories and accoutrements, though talking about technological institutions. In this year’s budget and despite the fact that the analogy of state financing in T.E.I. and Universities is 1:4, government gets on a new reduce of outlays of T.E.I.
“Step-up’’ of T.E.I. is not a simple maintenance of today’s reality, which opens a perspective of their substantial ‘’step-up’’ in the future. A – without any step-up-input of T.E.I. in Higher education starts the application of Bologna’s decisions about the debasement of undergraduate studies of Universities, since T.E.I. degrees are the “first academic title’’, similar to bachelors, with which University degrees will become equal. Simultaneously, progress for T.E.I. are negative, since the law keeps open the issue of an even bigger debasement of their studies, by reforming study schedules in the direction of a due, practical and “flexible’’ knowledge, after inputting a credit point system. That is if law quality and cost of University studies force their graduates to a continuous alternation of training and professions that will concern a bigger part T.E.I. graduates. Consequences of application of Bologna’s decisions will stand multiple for T.E.I. because they start from a lower level. Consequently, “step-up’’ of T.E.I. marks the downwards leveling of Universities and T.E.I., that must be confronted in common.
Mature withdrawal of distinction between Universities and T.E.I., presupposes conditions of a substantial “step-up’’ and composition of a distinct system of public and free professional learning.
e-mail:cpg@int.kke.gr