On November the 29th 2001 the European ministers of Education and Youth met. On the agenda were such themes as ' the harmonization of the European higher education', 'the mobility of education', and 'the quality of higher education'. All big words. But what do they stand for? We asked Benjamin Pestiau and Marc Botenga who published an article in the latest issue of Marxist Studies on the reform of higher education in Europe.

Why did you throw yourselves on the subject?

Marc Botenga. It all started on the 13th of February at the VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Free University of Brussels) when the students decided to occupy the rectorate's bureau as a form of protest against the implementation of certain measures that are outlined in the declaration of Bologna. This declaration was made in June 1999. Thirty European ministers signed it. It is its aim to ' create a European space for higher education'.
By then the students started to see what was really happening. These reforms had nothing to do with the students' interest. The debate and the whole movement spread throughout all the universities. During our actions we found out that the European ministers had been meeting regularly in the last couple of years to discuss higher education.

What 's wrong with meeting?

Marc Botenga. The question is: why are they meeting? Students face all sorts of problems. At the VUB for example there is the problem of the ever-growing inscription fee. Or the miserable state that the student home in the New Avenue is in. Or the raising price of the dens and of sports activities like the swimming pool.

Benjamin Pestieau. More than sixty percent of the students say they worry about the cost of their studies. This figure comes from a large survey held last year of 1.200 students at the university of Louvain-la-Neuve. 42 percent says that the inscription fee is their main worry and 40 percent claims that the study books are way too expensive. And then we're not even talking about the youngsters who simply can't go to uni. Less than 5 percent of working class children get to university. So we asked ourselves a very simple question: Do our ministers meet to discuss these problems? To find solutions for these problems?

And?

Marc Botenga. Unfortunately we had to find out that it wasn't the case. Their main concern is to see what they can do to put into effect the plans of the Round Table of Industrials, the most important employers of Europe. In April last year, during the Lissabon summit, they described their basic principle as: To define the contribution of education in the project that will make Europe the most competitive and dynamic economy in the world.

How does Bologna fit into that context?

Benjamin Pestieau. The Bologna declaration wants to make the European higher education competitive on world scale. What does that really mean: A competitive education? The declaration doesn't really supply us with an answer but does point out some ways to obtain that goal.
The declaration defines the framework of a big European Education Market. The ministers use sweet words to make the pill less bitter to swallow. They talk about harmonization, mobility, and quality. Who could possibly be against quality education? Or against mobility? But if you look at the underlying meaning you get the shivers.

Marc Botenga. Which quality the ministers are talking about? Which quality determines if university X is more competitive than university Y? This can only cause the unequal development of universities. In the United States you already have a classification of universities. With at the top Harvard, Princeton and Stanford who offer 'top quality' but at top prices. The inscription fee runs up to 25.000 EURO.
These universities attract the best professors by paying them huge salaries. The private sector offers them the most lucrative contracts. Just like Real Madrid concludes 250.000 EURO transfers to get the best players, the best trainer and the best infrastructure. That's the reason why Real stays a very competitive club. And then you have the hundreds of clubs in the third, fourth and fifth category. The competition within the education system will have the same result: first class universities and universities playing at regional level. And afterwards it will be very clear in the wallet which university you went to.

Benjamin Pestieau. The ministers don't raise such questions as: who determines the quality criteria? For example: If you ask students in Belgium to name the six kings Belgium had, the majority will be able to do so, but if you ask them to name the six biggest strikes which have taken place you'll probably get 'eh, eh, I don't know' as an answer. Is it the critical attitude towards social events that determines the quality or is it the capacity to create excellent executives for multinationals that does? Does the quality depend on free access? Or on the services the university offers?

In your opinion: Which quality standards must a university fulfil?

Marc Botenga. Uni must be at the services of the people. The quality must be a quality for all and mustn't serve or promote the hierarchy. Primarily this means: free education for all students. This also means free access to libraries, canteens, free courses, and free informatics services. Every student should have classes in small groups with professors who are really at their disposal. A European system that judges the quality of the universities should in the first place strengthen the weakest links by a decent financing according to the changing needs.

Benjamin Pestieau. The quality assessment should also take into account the needs of the people. It's not normal that only 1% of the money for pharmaceutical research goes to diseases which concern the majority of the world population. There is practically no research in the domain of tropical diseases, which constitute a real plague for tens of millions of people in Africa. Quality aimed at the people also means supplying an other content. In Cuba students are taught about the liberation struggle of their people. At our universities they keep mum about the struggles of the working class in Belgium, Europe and the whole world.

The ministers speak about mobility, you say?

Benjamin Pestieau. Sounds good, doesn't? But what does it mean? Mobility, as the European ministers see it, means immobility for most students and super mobility for the few. The rich and competitive students will be able to follow lessons all over Europe with professors who offer them what they think will be needed. The other students will have to be satisfied with what is at their disposal locally, which comes down to less quality.

Marc Botenga. The best example comes from the Unites states. In theory there is nothing that stands in the way of a student from New York to go and study thousands of miles further in Los Angeles. But in practice only rich students can afford it. On top of that they have to be really competitive or they don't get in. A top of the bill university doesn't gain much by letting in a mediocre student…unless his daddy is loaded of course. Each student is tested by an independent organisation at the end of his secondary school to see to which category of university he can go. According to his/her results, the student gets access to certain universities. So there are universities for the haves and the have-nots, the smart ones and the normal youngsters.

But are you against mobility in the education system?

Benjamin Pestieau. No, not at all. But we want to give it another meaning. We are in favour of a mobility with a FIP-logo: Free, International and Popular. If the ministers were really concerned about mobility they would remove the main obstacles by making education and public transport in the whole of Europe free.

Marc Botenga. This should also count for the people in the Third World. We want a large mobility, not to create a small Eurocentric consciousness but to stimulate a large international consciousness. The Cuban example is very instructive. On the 31 December 1998 Cuba founded the Latin-American School for Medical Sciences.
Two years later there were 3.415 students from 23 counties: 19 Latin American and 4 African countries. Figures that make you think, because Cuba is 10 times as poor as Belgium. The country chooses the students who can go to the university and one of the conditions of entry is coming from a poor rural family. The student has to commit himself to take the place of a Cuban doctor in his mother country after finishing his studies. The study, the courses, the stay are all free. All at the expense of the Cuban state. It is this kind of international mobility we carry in our hearts.

The Bologna declaration doesn't talk about the privatisation of education. But in Marxist studies you keep referring to it.

Benjamin Poteau. The ministers are careful. They want privatisation without talking about privatisation. Bologna wants a competitive system in higher education. That system automatically leads to privatisation. In Belgium no one talks about privatisation of The Post, especially not the Socialist Party. But that's exactly where we are going. In 2003 The Post must be competitive and lucrative. Government support from then on will be forbidden. When confronted with financial problems they use the bankrupt scenario to sell (or give) the best parts to the private sector. Just think about Sabena (Belgian Airlines Company). And then they'll say: 'Yes, but we can't continue to put money in a bottomless pit!'
It is exactly the same for education. The universities and other institutions must be competitive. Government funding will be scarce, so the parts that make money will be sold to the private sector. In the United States thousands of universities and other educational institutions are in private hands. Anyone who wants to get in has to pay huge amounts 'cause education has to make big money, doesn't it?

Marc Botenga. The student movement is facing the challenge to break free from the framework of the Bologna declaration and from the framework of the European Union which wants to privatise everything and which wants to replace the public monopolies with private monopolies. That's why the student movement should be present at all European summits to protest.