SPAIN: Cuts and culture hinder Bologna process

University leaders are warning that government funding cuts and inflexible policies are distorting Spain's attempts to implement the Bologna Treaty, which seeks to set common academic standards and encourage greater student and staff mobility across Europe.

One vice-chancellor said universities were being forced to implement the Bologna process 'Spanish style', due to spending cuts and lack of funding for research. Other academics cited the enforcement of degree durations and cultural differences as added factors.

Professor Juan Casares Long, Vice-chancellor of the University of Santiago de Compostela, said his institution had faced a EUR16 million (US$21.5 million) cut in government funding this year alone, and a 20% cut over the past three years, leaving the university with "insufficient money to pay our staff".

"Bologna sought to promote mobility and quality in European education systems, but these cuts mean that we are going to have to sacrifice our hopes for the next few years," he said.

The vice-chancellor said the lack of a Spanish tradition of government funding for research meant that universities have had to take on large loans and divert essential resources to search for funds. "We don't have a culture that supports endowments or donations to fund research like they do for example in the UK," he said. "In fact our fiscal laws are against it."

The implementation of the Bologna process is now in its second year for the majority of Spanish qualifications, and it should be providing students with a more personalised service that includes more professors and smaller class sizes.

However, with an estimated fall of around EUR300 million in Spanish university budgets this year, the cuts are often having the opposite effect.

A survey of 12 vice-chancellors, undertaken by the national Spanish newspaper El Pais, for example, confirmed the view that all superfluous expenditure had already been cut, and that the quality of teaching is now going to be affected.

Specifically, many masters courses are being shed, the posts of associate lecturers are not being renewed and universities are spending more time searching for alternative funding sources. On the other hand, because of the high level of youth unemployment in Spain, more young people are seeking to continue their studies.

The result is a squeeze that many believe has arrived at a critical point.

Eduardo Doménech, Vice-chancellor of the University of Laguna (Tenerife), said: "One can live with this level of cuts for one year, or maybe two, but when they become structural they end up undermining the foundation of the university."

As well as ensuring common standards and levels of quality, Bologna has sought to increase mobility among academics and students. But Spain's traditionally theoretical method of teaching languages has meant that many researchers lack the communication skills to work abroad. Strong Catholic family ties and a lack of state support have also meant that it is unusual for young people to study elsewhere.

Josu Mezo, a professor of sociology at the University Castilla-La Mancha, said: "Students commonly go to the university nearest their home. Beyond the traditional reasons, they lack the comparable data to make informed choices."

He said the implementation of Bologna in Spain had been "very peculiar in many aspects". The government decision to impose a four-year degree course meant that universities could not go through the process of establishing whether four-year courses were really needed.

"Bologna should have led each university to review its courses and respond to the economic and social needs of society. Instead, these rigid rules have meant that Spanish universities have remained very isolated from society," Mezo argued.

But there was an added problem that many universities had avoided cutting courses to prevent infighting among departments, choosing instead to proportionally reduce the size of courses. "They should have looked at business needs and sought to respond to that, but instead they have opted for internal peace," he said.

Vice-chancellor Long said that Bologna could not be implemented until higher education was adequately funded. "What we need is for politicians to do what they have never done before in Spain: they need to put higher education further up their list of priorities," he said.