Milada Polisenska
My objective is to characterize present status of tertiary education in the Czech Republic, taking in account Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, with a main focus on (1) strategic goals, decisions and policies, and on (2) comparison and confrontation with current discourse in academic community on a broader context of university education in the age of globalization. The goal of my presentation is to answer to what extent the current reforms correspond to the needs of the present and of the future.In the conclusion I argue that tertiary education in Central Europe is facing nowadays difficult challenges that lay at the intersection of strong national historical traditions, effects of post-communist transition ( which brought new trends, mobility and opening to the world, but also some not coherent concepts), and current serious search for a balanced approach toward public and private university sector (including foreign universities), demographic decline and massification of university education and at the same time emphasis on diversity and increase of quality.
Central Europe; Czech Republic; Poland; Hungary; Slovakia; Tertiary Education; University; Challenges; Educational Policies; Accreditation; Diversity; Quality