The Bologna Process started out long ago, when the creators of the European Union discussed the need to have certain educational standards in place among the various Member states in order to allow for greater mobility among future members of the workforce in Europe. The plan sounded good on paper, but once you scratched beneath the surface, you suddenly discovered a huge gaping black hole of uncertainty.

The plan was originally devised to encourage worker mobility in the European Union. This meant that students could transfer from one university to another university in a different Member state with a simple transfer of credits. According to the plan, this would encourage future workers to travel abroad to work in other countries and would better prepare future employees to accommodate the needs of the mobile workforce.

Aside from the drastic change from the “mid-term” and “final-exam” testing methods to a cumulative testing system, the years and methods of study suffered serious modication. This meant that a five-year economics degree would now be a 4-year bachelor’s degree in Economics plus a two-year masters degree, normally for the rich and upper classes that could afford such education.

The new system required students to speak another language, aside from their native tongue. The language of business, English, is of course the most highly marketable. So universities and educational institutions scrambled to accommodate their organisations to make this change with the least amount of fallout possible. Several institutions paired up with the anglo-saxon system of entry exams that included tests of profficiency, such as the IELTS examinations and those offered by the British council. The plan requires students to attain at least a B1 level of language profficiency.

Aside from the new language requirements, several countries found themselves at a loss when it came time to convert their curriculum to the new European standard. For example, there was no list of obligatory courses or electives for Economics or any other career. There was virtually no agreement on subject matter, content or established criteria for examinations.

While EU officials and so-called institutions were hailing the Bologna Process, few had the nerve to admit to the fact that the system was virtually non-existent and the framework for the new system was at best a shoddy sketch of what the ideal educational system might be. Some critics of the system saw this as tailoring to the needs of big business by subjecting the design of existing education systems to the needs of businesses to carry out more and more business abroad.

Institutions, teachers, students, alumni and businesses alike struggled to interpret (to understand) the characteristics and ramifications of such a system and an alarming number of them had absolutely no idea about how profound these effects would have on the future of tomorrow – our youth.