Italy and Belgium, from theory to practice
By: Francesca Narri
Tags: Higher Education, Univeristy, Education, Belgium, Italy

Belgium stands out for its professional training at university

Introduction

Education is particularly relevant and always current: it is the key to allow the world to progress in the long term, teaching the new generations all there is to know and giving them tools to discover more and more, making life easier.

This research focuses on Higher Education, analyzing the two systems, the Belgian and the Italian one, in order to make comparisons and find out new perspectives.

Interviews of two experts on the subject will be reported, who are Frauke Van der Rijt, working at the central office in Hogeschool PXL as an education supporter, and Mariet Vrancken, member of KU Leuven, an institution for research and education with international appeal.

Administration

First of all, the main difference lies in the administration of education.

Belgium counts 300,000 students, of whom 30,000 are foreigners. Since 1993 Belgium is a Federal State with autonomous governments of the three Flemish, French and German-speaking communities.

The federal government is responsible for matters of justice, security, foreign affairs, defense and finance. Instead, education is a matter of the communities since 1989, as Frauke Van der Rijt stated, and this is why each of the three (Flemish, French, German) has its own distinct school system, they manage it independently.

Brussels experiences a particular situation as it is an autonomous region but, being bilingual (French and Flemish), it is “under the influence” of the Francophone and Flemish Communities.

In Italy, on the other hand, education is under the jurisdiction of the state. The institution’s name is MIUR, (Ministry of Education, University and Research — (in Italian “Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca”), it is the ministry of the Italian government for the national education system, the Italian universities and research agencies, and applies to all regions.

Ministry of Education in Italy

Credit system



Then, Belgian and Italian university study programmes, as all the European ones, are structured in credits; this means that to get a title/degree you need to obtain a certain number of credits, successfully passing a certain number of exams.

In Italy, they are called “CFU” (Crediti Formativi Universitari = University Educational Credits) and normally correspond to 25 hours of student work, including individual study.

The CFU system is equivalent to the ECTS system (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System), which is adopted in Belgium.

“It is based on the workload required of the student to achieve the objectives of a course of study”

(European Commission, about ECTS)

Universities and Hogeshools

Education in Belgium is made up of two types of institutions: universities and vocational/professional schools (hautes écoles/hogescholen). The former provide more theoretical and research training in a certain field and normally aim to teach students how to do research in a university environment. The latter are specialized in preparing students with a more professional/practical training.

Moreover, universities last 3 years, but as you obtain just an academic bachelor degree, that’s not enough to enter the labour market; most of times you’re supposed to keep on studying and attending a Master’s degree, later on a doctorate or a specialization (applying in private business schools is also possible).

On the contrary, University colleges (or hogescholen) last 3 years too, but usually it is enough to find a job once the degree is obtained, since the whole career has been based on addressing students to learn about a specific profession. Frauke van der Rijt defines it as an “authentic education” because it involves students to experience tasks and situations they will face later in the workplace.

Although students achieve a professional degree, some of them decide to keep on studying, joining the 2 Master years, through a “connection year” which gives them access to academic studies. Van der Rijt explained, for example, that she got the secondary education bachelor degree, in PXL, then she passed to KU Leuven and did the connection year in order to study educational sciences, pedagogy.

According to what Vrancken says: “Nowadays both hogescholen and universities adopt a practical approach giving constant assignments such as papers to do as an individual task. Things changed because since 10 years ago in university it was only a matter of studying. Also, hogescholen improved very much in time.”

She also said that most universities don’t have an entry test, apart from some fields such as medicine. There are also some universities where you have to attend a test, but even if you don’t pass it’s possible for you to join the course. It aims at making you understand your level in order to know if you’re “good enough”.

Also, if you want to become a teacher you must attend a hogeschool but you don’t have to get any test. Although things could change because too many students want to apply so maybe a test will be installed.

An interest thing that happens in Flanders and differs from Italy, as Frauke affirmed, is that: “According to the Flemish Government, institutes of higher education must accept every student, they can’t refuse them”, both universities and hogescholen. This means that every student should be allowed to study.

Anyway, the cycle of studies in Belgium and Italy is quite the same, as it is articulated on three levels, and each of them correspond to the academic qualifications that are recognized in the whole European Union:

1. “Laurea” (Bachelor Degree), it lasts 3 years;

2. “Laurea magistrale” (Master’s Degree), it lasts 2 years;

3. “Dottorato di ricerca” (Research Doctorate), from 3 to 5 years.

University fees

In Belgium, tuition fees are around 500 to 1000 euros a year depending on the institution. Higher education is largely supported by the state. As in Italy, they vary according to the income; there are facilities for less well-off students.

Here we find 3 categories:

- Non-scholarship student: € 938.80

- Near-scholarship student: € 494.80

- Scholarship student: € 110.8

(https://www.ap.be/studiekosten)

On the other hand, Italy is the third country in Europe where more university fees are paid, after England and the Netherlands. On average, the costs are above 1,000 euros per student each year. Since the fee increases proportionally to income, a “Student Act” was made to help students who live in families with a low income.

Teaching methods

The main difference between the two teaching methods is that in Belgium you will be constantly asked to write papers and carry out tasks on your own (or sometimes even in pairs/groups). These assignments play an important role in determining the final score; sometimes they represent the exam itself.

Furthermore, the rating scale is different too. In Belgium, the maximum score is 20, and to pass the exam the minimum to take is 10 (50% sufficiency). In Italy the maximum is 30 instead, and sufficiency is reached with 60%, thus taking 18 as a score. In addition, if you take a score that you do not like in Belgium, you cannot choose to reject it, as it occurs in Italy.

There are cases in Belgium where there is no 2nd chance for examinations. While in Italy you always have the chance to repeat it until you pass it. On the other hand, the belgian programmes are more flexible:

in Italy students have to pass two specific exams they’re obliged to pass: one is about English (or another foreign language) and the other one is about knowledge in IT (Information Technology). In Belgium, universities don’t have them or, at least, they are not compulsory to attend; it doesn’t compromise the student’s career.

Finally, as far as lessons are concerned, a subject in Belgium is weekly (it only occurs once a week). In Italy, there are more lessons of the same subject several times a week.

Sources:

§ onderwijs.vlaanderen.be/nl/node/4915

§ www.highereducation.be

Campus of the University Milano-Bicocca in Italy