MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN REGION REGULATIONS

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 451.02

MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

QUALIFICATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN REGION

REGULATIONS

*

LEGAL NOTICE 280 of 2006.

(1) The title of these regulations is the Mutual Recognition

of Higher Education Qualifications in the European Region

Regulations.

(2) These regulations shall come into force on such date as the

Minister responsible for education may, by notice in the Gazette,

appoint.

In these regulations unless the content otherwise requires -

"access" means access to higher education and is the right of

qualified candidates to apply and to be considered for admission to

higher education;

"admission" means admission to higher education institutions

and programmes and is the act of, or system for, allowing qualified

ap plican ts to pursue studies in hig her education at a giv en

institution or a given programme;

"assessment of institutions or programmes" means the process

for establishing the educational quality of a higher education

institution or programme;

"assessment of individual qualifications" means the written

appraisal or evaluation of an individual’s foreign qualifications by

a competent body;

"competent recognition authority" means a body officially

charged with making binding decisions on the recognition of

foreign qualifications;

"higher education" means all types of courses of study, or sets of

courses of study, training or training for research at the post-

secondary level which are recognised by the relevant authorities of

a Party as belonging to its higher education system;

"higher education institution" means an establishment providing

higher education and recognised by the competent authority of a

Party as belonging to its system of higher education;

"higher education programme" means a course of study

recognised by the competent authority of a Party as belonging to its

system of higher education, the completion of which provides the

student with a higher education qualification;

"higher education qualification" means any degree, diploma or

other certificate issued by a competent authority attesting the

*Not yet in force.

successful completion of a higher education progamme;

"general requirements" means such conditions that must, in all

cases, be fulfilled for access to higher education, or to a given level

thereof, or for the award of a higher education qualification at a

given level;

" P a r t y St a t e " m e a n s a s t a t e t h a t h a s r a t i f i e d t h e L i s b o n

Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning

Higher Education, which is -

(a) a member of the Council of Europe,

(b) a member of the UNESCO European Region,

(c) any other signatory, contracting State or party to the

European Cultural Convention of the Council of

Europe, or to the UNESCO Convention on the

Recognition of Studies, Diplomas and Degrees

concerning Higher Education in the States belonging

to the Europe Region;

"period of study" means any component of a higher education

programme which has been evaluated and documented and, while

not a complete programme of study in itself, represents a

significant acquisition of knowledge or skill;

"qualifications" means either higher education qualifications or

qualifications giving access to higher education, or both;

"qualification giving access to higher education" means any

diploma or other certificate issued by a competent authority

attesting the successful completion of an education programme and

giving the holder of the qualification the right to be considered for

admission to higher education in terms of the definition of access;

"recognition" means a formal acknowledgement by a competent

authority of the value of a foreign educational qualification with a

view to access educational or employment activities;

"requirement" means either general requirements or specific

requirements, or both;

"specific requirements" means such conditions that must be

fulfilled, in addition to the general requirements, in order to gain

admission to a particular higher education programme, or for the

award of a specific higher education qualification in a particular

field of study.

(1) Holders of any qualifications issued by a recognised

institution of higher education of one of the Party States shall have

adequate access, upon request to the appropriate body, to a

transparent, coherent and reliable assessment of the qualifications.

(2) No discrimination shall be made in this respect on any

ground such as the applicant’s gender, race, colour, disability,

language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or

social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or

other status, or on the grounds of any other circumstance not

related to the merits of the qualification for which recognition is

sought and skills achieved.

(3) Decisions on recognition shall be made on the basis of

appropriate information on the qualifications for which recognition

is sought.

(4) In the first instance, the responsibility for providing

adequate information rests with the applicant, who shall provide

such information in good faith.

(5) Notwithstanding the responsibility of the applicant, the

recognised institutions of higher education in Malta, having issued

the qualifications in question shall have a duty to provide, upon

request of the applicant and within reasonable limits, relevant

information to the holder of the qualification, to the institution, or

to the competent authorities of the country in which recognition is

sought.

(6) The responsibility to demonstrate that an application does

not fulfil the relevant requirements lies with the body undertaking

the assessment.

Decisions on recognition shall be made not later than four

months calculated from the time all necessary information on the

case has been provided. If recognition is withheld, the reasons for

the refusal to grant recognition shall be stated, and information

shall be given concerning possible measures the applicant may take

in order to obtain recognition at a later stage. If recognition is

withheld , or if no decision is taken, the applicant shall be able to

make an appeal within four months to the Mutual Recognition of

Qualifications Appeals Board.

(1) The Malta Qualifications Recognition Centre and

institutes of higher education within Malta shall recognise

qualifications issued by similar institutions in other Party States

and which meet the general requirements for access to higher

education in those Party States for the purpose of access to

programmes belonging to the Maltese higher education system,

unless a substantial difference can be shown between the general

requirements for access to an institution of higher education in

Malta and those of the Party State concerned.

(2) Alternatively, it shall be sufficient for a Party State to

enable the holder of a qualification issued in one of the other Party

States to obtain an assessment of the qualification, upon request by

the holder, and the provisions of sub-regulation (1) shall apply

mutatis mutandis to such a case.

(3) Where a qualification gives access only to specific types of

institutions or programmes of higher education in the Party State in

which the qualification was obtained, Malta shall grant holders of

such qualifications access to similar specific programmes in

institutions belonging to its higher education system, unless a

substantial difference can be demonstrated between the

requirements for access in the Party State in which the qualification

was obtained and in Malta.

(4) Where admission to particular higher education

programmes is dependent on the fulfilment of specific requirements

in addition to the general requirements for access, the competent

authorities of the institutions of higher education may impose the

additional requirements equally on holders of qualifications

obtained in the other Party States or assess whether applicants with

qualifications obtained in other Party States fulfil equivalent

requirements.

(5) Where, in the Party States in which they have been

o b ta in ed , sch o o l l eav i ng ce rt i f ic at es g iv e a cce ss to hi g h er

education only in combination with additional qualifying

examinations as a prerequisite access, Institutions of Higher

E d u c a t i o n i n M a l t a m a y m a k e a c c e s s c o n d i t i o n al o n t h e se

requirements or offer an alternative for satisfying such additional

requirements within their own educational systems.

(6) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-regulations (1),

(2), (3), (4) and (5), admission to a given higher education

institution in Malta, or to a given programme within such an

institution, may be restricted or selective. In cases in which

admission to a higher education institution or programme is

selective, admission procedures should be designed with a view to

ensuring that the assessment of foreign qualifications is carried out

according to the principles of fairness and non-discrimination

described in regulation 3(2).

(7) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-regulations (1),

(2), (3), (4) and (5), admission to a given higher education

institution in Malta may be made conditional on demonstration by

the applicant of sufficient competence in the language or languages

of instruction of the institution concerned, or in other specified

languages.

(8) In the case in which access to higher education may be

obtained on the basis of non-traditional qualifications, similar

qualifications obtained in other Party States shall be assessed in a

similar manner as non-traditional qualifications earned in Malta.

(9) For the purpose of admission to programmes of higher

e d u c a t i o n , e a c h P a r t y St a t e s h a l l m a k e t h e r e c o g n i t i o n o f

qualifications issued by foreign educational institutions operating

in its territory contingent upon specific requirements of Maltese

legislation or specific agreements concluded with the Party State of

origin of such institutions.

(1) Institutes of higher education in Malta shall recognise

periods of study completed within the framework of a higher

education programme in another Party State. This recognition shall

comprise such periods of study towards the completion of a higher

education programme in the Party State in which recognition is

sought, unless substantial differences can be shown between the

periods of study completed in another Party and the part of the

higher education programme which they would replace in Malta.

(2) Alternatively, it shall be sufficient for the institution of

higher education in Malta to enable a person who has completed a

period of study within the framework of a higher education

programme in another Party State to obtain an assessment of that

period of study, upon request by the person concerned, and the

provisions of sub-regulation (1) shall apply mutatis mutandis to

such a case.

(3) In particular, Institutions of higher education in Malta shall

facilitate recognition of periods of study when

(a) there has been a previous agreement between, on the

one hand, the higher education institution or the

competent authority responsible for the relevant period

of study and, on the other hand, the higher education

institution, or the competent recognition authority

responsible for the recognition that is sought; and

(b) the higher education institution in which the period of

study has been completed has issued a certificate or

transcript of academic records attesting that the

student has successfully completed the stipulated

requirements for the said period of study.

(1) To the extent that a recognition decision is based on the

knowledge and skills certified by the higher education

qualification, institutions of higher learning in Malta shall

recognise the higher education qualifications conferred in another

Party State unless a substantial difference can be shown between

the qualification for which recognition is sought and the

corresponding qualification in Malta.

(2) Alternatively, it shall be sufficient for the Malta

Qualifications Recognition Information Centre or an institution of

higher education in Malta to enable the holder of a higher education

qualification issued in one of the other Party States to obtain an

assessment of that qualification, upon request by the holder, and the

provisions of sub-regulation (1) shall apply mutatis mutandis to

such a case.

(3) Recognition in Malta of a higher education qualification

issued in another Party State shall have one or both of the following

consequences

(a) access to further higher education studies, including

relevant examinations, or to preparations for the

doctorate, on the same conditions as those applicable

to holders of qualifications of the Party in which

recognition is sought;

(b) the use of an academic title, subject to the laws and

regulations of Malta, or a jurisdiction thereof. In

addition, recognition may facilitate access to the

labour market subject to laws and regulations of Malta,

or a jurisdiction thereof.

(4) An assessment in Malta of a higher education qualification

issued in another Party State may take the form of

(a) advice for general employment purposes;

(b) advice to an educational institution for the purpose of

admission into its programmes;

(c) advice to any other competent recognition authority.

(5) The Minister responsible for education may make the

recognition of higher education qualifications issued by foreign

education institutions operating in Malta contingent upon specific

requirements of national legislation or specific agreements

concluded with the Party State of origin of such institutions.

Malta shall take all feasible and reasonable steps within the

framework of its education system and in conformity with its

c on sti t ut i on al , l eg al , an d r eg ul at o ry p r ov i sio n s t o d ev elo p

procedures designed to assess fairly and expeditiously whether

refugees, displaced persons and persons in a refugee-like situation

fulfil the relevant requirements for access into higher education, to

further higher education programmes or to employment activities,

even in cases in which the qualifications obtained in one of the

Parties cannot be proved through documentary evidence.

The Malta Qualifications Recognition and Information

Centre and recognised institutions of higher education in Malta

shall provide adequate information on any programme offered with

a view to enabling the competent or designated authorities of other

Party States to ascertain whether the quality of the qualifications

issued justifies recognition in the Party State in which recognition

is sought. Such information shall take the form of information on

the methods and results of this assessment, and of the standards of

quality specific to each type of higher education institution

granting, and to programmes leading to higher education

qualifications.

The Malta Qualification Recognition and Information

Centre through its Information Technology Office shall make

adequate provisions for the development, maintenance and

provision of

(a) an overview of the different types of higher education

institutions belonging to its higher education system,

with the typical characteristics of each type of

institution;

(b) a list of recognised institutions, both public and

private, belonging to its higher education system,

indicating their powers to award different types of

qualifications and requirements for gaining access to

each type of institution and programme;

(c) a description of higher education programmes;

(d) a list of education institutions located outside its

territory which Malta considers as belonging to its

educational system.

(1) In order to facilitate the recognition of qualifications

concerning higher education, institutions of higher learning

undertake to establish transparent systems for the complete

description of the qualifications obtained.

(2) Acknowledging the need for relevant, accurate and up-to-

d ate in fo rm at io n, t he Mal ta Qua lif i cati on Rec ogn it io n and

Information Centre in collaboration with institutions of higher

education shall maintain a national information centre which shall

form part of the European Network of Information Centres on

academic mobility and recognition known as the ENIC Network,

established by decision of the Committee of Ministers of the

Council of Europe on the 9th June, 1994 and the UNES CO

Regional Committee for Europe on the 18th June, 1994. The Centre

shall also maintain links with the Committee of the Convention on

the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in

the European Region.

(3) The Malta Qualification Recognition and Information

Centre incorporating ENIC shall

(a) facilitate access to authoritative and accurate

information on the higher education system and

qualifications of Malta;

(b) facilitate access to authorative and accurate

information on the higher education systems and

qualifications of the other Party States;

(c) give advice or information on recognition matters and

assessment of qualifications, in accordance with

national laws and regulations;

(d) promote the use of the UNESCO or Council of Europe

Diploma Supplement.