National Qualifications Framework For Higher Education in Turkey, and Architectural Education: Problems and Challenges of Implementation

The Council of Higher Education (CoHE) adopted the National Qualifications Framework for Higher Education in Turkey (NQF-HETR) in May 2009, as part of the Bologna reforms. In January 2010, the CoHE decided full implementation of the NQF-HETR at institutional and program levels and in this decision, it was foreseen that the process would be completed by the end of December 2012. The NQFHETR has been aligned both to the overarching Framework for Qualifications in the European Higher Education Area (QF-EHEA, 2005) and to the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning (EQF-LLL, 2008). The latter was introduced to facilitate the European cooperation in education and training, in line with the goals of the European Union's (EU) Lisbon Strategy. This paper focuses on some of the problems that have become apparent during the NQF-HETR's implementation at the levels of “narrow fields of education” and architecture programs, and the challenges ahead. Following a discussion of the significance of the two European frameworks in light of the goals of the EHEA, the Education and Training 2010 work programme (ET 2010) and the strategic framework for European cooperation in Education and Training (ET 2020), it covers two problem areas concerning qualifications in architecture: i) terminological and classificatory problems entailed by the NQF-HETR; ii) the lack of alignment between the European qualifications frameworks and the EU Directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Directive EC/2005/36) that covers seven “sectoral professions” including architecture. The paper also reviews the latest developments for the modernization of the EU Directive in order to provide progression in forming an integrated European Higher Education Area.