Ireland Ratifies UNESCO Global Convention on Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications
Ireland's Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless, announced on November 5 that Ireland has ratified the UNESCO Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education. He marked the ratification after opening remarks at the 101st meeting of the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) at Croke Park in Dublin. Ireland's ratification came into effect on October 23.
The Convention, adopted by UNESCO in November 2019, is the first international legal framework dedicated to the fair and transparent recognition of higher education qualifications. It currently has 43 States Parties, including Australia, Finland, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Korea, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Lawless said achieving ratification during Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union was a milestone, and that the Convention will make it easier for learners and graduates to have their achievements recognised across borders, supporting mobility and academic cooperation.
Leila Loupis, a Senior Programme Specialist at UNESCO, said the recognition of qualifications is not a technical formality but one of the conditions that make the right to higher education a reality for millions of learners, and that Ireland's ratification is a concrete contribution to equity, inclusion and lifelong learning.
At the same meeting, Lawless announced that the Government had approved Ireland's participation as a founding member of the new Long-Term Secretariat for the European Higher Education Area. The Secretariat, mandated by the 2024 Tirana Communiqué to strengthen continuity in the governance of the Bologna Process, will be hosted by Romania and will have four founding members including Ireland; the proposals are to be adopted by ministers at the 2027 EHEA Ministerial Conference. The BFUG meeting ran on November 5-6 with representatives of its 49 member countries and the European Commission.
Source: 爱尔兰高等教育部
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：都柏林 Croke Park 体育场，博洛尼亚进程跟进组第101次会议在此举行。Metro Centric 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 2.0。 / Photo: Croke Park in Dublin, venue of the 101st Bologna Follow-Up Group meeting. Photo by Metro Centric, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
