Madam, - In his letter of October 2nd, Prof John Kelly fails even to mention, let alone address, the point I made (Opinion, September 20th) about wide differences between the quality of education in universities and other higher education institutions in different countries - and, in some countries other than Ireland, even between different universities in the same country.
Of course, in the absence of objective comparative quality measurements, the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS,) based on student contact hours modified by student study hours, currently offers the only available basis for promoting and facilitating student mobility within Europe. But, given the huge differences in quality of higher education within Europe, it is hard to see how any serious academic could regard this system as an adequate comparability measure.
Prof Kelly's dismissal of the Irish and British external examiner system astonishes me, for he was a member of the last NUI Senate (1997-2002) which provided each of our constituent universities with separate external examiners, eliminating the earlier overload on such examiners, who previously had to monitor examinations in up to four different colleges at around the same time of year.
Prof Kelly must know that this reform of the system also introduced a new structure of reporting on standards to the president of each of our NUI constituent universities, and that the new arrangements have made a major contribution to the NUI Senate's ongoing review of examination marking systems and degree standards, a review that was instituted during his term of office. Moreover, these significant developments, which have been welcomed by the various faculties in the NUI constituent universities, are acknowledged as an important aspect of their quality assurance procedures.
Far from being unaware of the European University Association - a new body formed from the recent merger of the CRE (Conference of European Rectors) and the Confederation of EU Rectors' Conferences - I made specific reference in my article to the involvement of university presidents in the Bologna process which is undertaken through this body. My criticism was specifically directed at a quite different matter: "the absence of any European organisation of academics - arguably the most directly affected by the changes under way [who\] seem to have no real say in the process, either in Ireland or at the European level."
This contrasts strikingly with the representation in this process of students and the business community. - Yours, etc.,
GARRET FITZGERALD, Cardiff, California, USA.