Reykjavík Grapevine - 26.08.2011, Síða 16

16
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13 — 2011
Back To School | Special
Do you have any experience with 'the Icelandic educational system'? What are your
thoughts on it? What could be better/what could be worse? Write us about it.
Learning From The Past, Moving Into The Future
For a country of Iceland's size, the
education system is particularly
vibrant, especially on a university
level. The Grapevine contacted act-
ing Minister of Education Svandís
Svavarsdóttir for her thoughts on
the state of Iceland's universities,
where they've been, and where
they're going.
“In Iceland there are seven higher edu-
cation institutions, accredited by the
Minister of Education, Science and
Culture,” Svandís says. “They offer
higher education in various forms, but
vary greatly in size and scope. Some
are research intensive universities,
such as University of Iceland, which
offers education in all fields of disci-
pline, and awards bachelor's, master's
and doctorate degrees while other
higher education institutions could be
considered university colleges that of-
fer mainly undergraduate education in
limited fields.”
However, the trend now seems to
be towards one of cohesion rather
than separation, for both idealist and
pragmatic reasons. In August of 2010,
the ministry issued a Policy on Public
Universities. It states: “The policy of the
Minister of Education, Science and Cul-
ture is to safeguard the activities of the
public universities in Iceland by estab-
lishing a collaborative network, with the
possibility of a merger. The objective is
threefold: First, to promote university
teaching, research and innovation to
strengthen the future development of
Icelandic society. Second, to optimize
the financial administration of the uni-
versities for the purpose of maximizing
the efficiency of financial resources.
And third, to maintain strong and varied
higher education nationwide.” A task
force is currently working on imple-
menting the policy.
SERIOUS BUDGET CUTS
Part of the motivation behind this has
been, of course, the tightening of gov-
ernment purse strings following the
bank collapse in 2008.
“The greatest challenges facing the
university system since the collapse
of the financial system has without a
doubt been the serious budget cuts
to the university system,” the minister
says. “The budget has been cut by a
total of about 20% and we are facing a
budget cut for 2012 as well. In addition
agreements that specified increased
research funding to universities had to
be postponed at the onset of the crisis.”
WHERE ARE ALL OUR STUDENTS
GOING?
Many Icelandic students choose to
study abroad, for a variety of reasons.
Rather than being cause for concern,
Iceland's government applauds this.
“Until recently all students had to go
abroad to pursue postgraduate educa-
tion,” Svandís says. “Some fields of ed-
ucation are still not offered in Iceland,
and in addition some students prefer
to study in another country. Studying
and living abroad is a cultural issue,
and it is something that we consider
an asset, that young people go abroad,
and gain a wider outlook on life. Most
students have, up until now at least,
decided to return back to Iceland, and
this fact enriches the work force. The
fact that young people will train and
study in another country, in many dif-
ferent universities, both in Europe and
the U.S., and be immersed in another
culture is a positive thing. One has also
to bear in mind that there is a tradition
going back at least 400 years of young
Icelanders going to Denmark for their
education, which may be a contributing
factor in why more the half of all Ice-
landic students abroad are studying at
Danish universities.”
She adds that Iceland's loan system
acts in accordance with this reality,
saying, “The Icelandic Student Loan
Fund does not make any distinction
between students that chose to study
abroad and those who study in Iceland.
Student Loan Funds in most countries
that we tend to compare us with, have
much greater restrictions on student
loans for those who choose to study
abroad.”
In 2010, there were roughly 2.200
Icelandic students studying abroad
(10% of the local student population).
At the same time, there are around
20.000 in the Icelandic higher educa-
tion system in total. The number of for-
eign students studying in Icelandic uni-
versities has been increasing in recent
years and counts for about 5% of the
student population.
DO THE SCHOOLS STILL <3 BUSI-
NESS?
On a side note, one of the conclusions
of the Special Investigative Commis-
sion (SIC), which examined the pos-
sible causes of the 2008 collapse, was
that universities are too closely tied to
businesses. Has the government taken
this to heart?
The minister says yes: “All the uni-
versities have undertaken construc-
tive steps in examining how they can
improve, and to be above such criti-
cism. To deal with the criticism in the
SIC report, the Science and Technology
Policy Council has played a leading role
in that all universities and research in-
stitutions comply to
rules of research in-
tegrity, that have re-
cently been written by
a specific ethics com-
mittee, working close-
ly with Rannís, the Icelandic Center for
Research.
Otherwise the universities have cer-
tain freedom to determine the conduct
of teaching according to article 7 of the
Higher education institution act nr. 63
from 2006. Thus the ministry does not
meddle directly with how classes are
taught.”
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
So with all this higher education going
on in a country that prides itself on its
independence, are the universities on
par with what's being taught in the rest
of Europe? The minister believes so, but
also sees room for improvement.
“The University of Iceland is on par
with many other European universi-
ties,” she says. “It has an ambitious fo-
cus on education and research. All uni-
versities have undergone accreditation
by the ministry, and have to report to
the ministry on internal quality control.
The minister has recently appointed a
quality council of foreign experts that
are responsible for quality control of
teaching and research in Icelandic uni-
versities”.
“There is always room for improve-
ment, but the University of Iceland has
in recent years achieved remarkable
achievements including doubling the
number of publications in peer re-
viewed journals, increasing the num-
ber of doctorate degrees fivefold, and
improving internal quality control. They
have recently published a policy for
2011–2016, with more ambitious goals.”
SMALL AND FLEXIBLE?
Keeping up with the status quo is all
well and good, but Svandís also be-
lieves the country can and should raise
the bar on education. Furthermore, she
contends that Iceland's small size is an
advantage when it comes to innovating
education.
“The Icelandic education system as
a whole is not that different from the
rest of the Western world regarding
structure and governance. But it is a
fact that it is small,” the minister says.
“That gives it an edge, which is also
structured into the legislation and reg-
ulation regarding education. In Iceland
we have had a subject called 'innova-
tion education and the use of knowl-
edge' as a part of the national curricu-
lum for primary and secondary schools
since 1999. This is not a compulsory
subject, but it is geared towards allow-
ing students to use their knowledge
and skills to develop their own inven-
tions and products. This subject is an
example of how the Icelandic system is
flexible enough
to allow enthusi-
astic teachers to
develop teaching
methods.”
The minister adds
that in the university system, there is
constant development in curriculum.
The ministry has recently published a
revised National Qualification Frame-
work for Higher Education. It is a sys-
tematic description of the structure of
qualification of degrees at the higher
education level based on learning out-
comes.
With this in the works, where does
she see Iceland's university system in
the near future?
The minister is optimistic. “In ten
years time, I hope that the financial
crisis will be a way behind us, and that
we will have had time and financial re-
sources to rebuild the university sys-
tem, with focus on quality and achieve-
ments.”
“So with all this higher education going on in a country that
prides itself on its independence, are the universities on par
with what's being taught in the rest of Europe?”
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Where is Iceland’s educational system headed?
Words
Paul Fontaine
Photo
Alísa Kalyanova