The Rector of VU Participates in the UNESCO World Higher Education Conference

On 18-20 May, the Rector of Vilnius University (VU), prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas participates in „UNESCO World Higher Education Conference 2022“, WHEC2022. The conference aims to break away from traditional higher education models and open the door to new, innovative, creative, and visionary concepts in line with current sustainable development agendas.

VU rector shared his thoughts at the conference:

I‘m honoured to be here today in this session and to share Lithuania‘s reasons for ratifying the Convention, as well as to learn more about the experience of other countries.

In Lithuania, the procedures of ratification were finalized this January which made us the ninth country to ratify the Convention. When UNESCO invited the Member states to join the Convention, our Ministry of Education, Science and Sport started the procedures right away. However, the overall process took around a year to complete as it had to go through a number of institutions. But when the voting took place in the Parliament, none of the 120 participating members voted against it. That clearly indicated that there are no doubts with regards to the value of this Convention.

The mobility of students, professors and researchers, as well as new venues and forms of teaching and learning, are fast increasing in Lithuania, just as they are global. Yet, the principles of the recognition of qualifications vary among different regions, creating all kinds of challenges for so many members of the academic community. Thus, the worldwide framework for recognition processes has been highly anticipated.

We have witnessed that the adoption of this Convention was not a risky endeavour but a very systemic and well-considered process, building on and reinforcing regional conventions which have proved to be effective. When Lithuania ratified the Lisbon convention back in 1999, we had to develop various instruments and tools to implement it, which we have been able to apply again. This is why the ratification of the Global Convention has not required additional financial resources nor created much additional work for our system now.

We found it significant that the Global Convention will not only harmonize recognition principles, but will also lead to greater transparency within and credibility of the higher education systems of the participating countries, as well as time-efficient, fair, and non-discriminatory procedures. The Convention will result in better access to information, strengthened cooperation and trust between institutions, in addition to expanded worldwide mobility opportunities. Finally, the Convention will lead to reliable higher education quality assurance mechanisms.

The added value we have foreseen for Lithuania also includes:
- more opportunities for inter-regional cooperation, exchanges and the development of joint programmes;
- and the increased visibility and competitiveness of our study programmes in other regions.

It is the shared responsibility of all higher education systems to be consistent when we promise future possibilities to learners (whether our nationals or immigrants) and to ensure that the qualifications we provide are recognized everywhere. With that, we encourage all Member states to join the Global Convention.