TEMPUS III: Trans-European cooperation scheme for higher education, 3rd phase 2000-2006

PURPOSE : to present the Annual Tempus Report for the year 2004.

CONTENT : The implementation of the Tempus programme in 2004 was guided, inter alia, by the conclusions and recommendations of the mid-term evaluation published in November 2003. The evaluation confirmed the relevance of the programme to support higher education reform and development as well as the validity of its intervention logic and management approaches. The following recommendations were particularly relevant for the implementation of the programme in 2004:

- The process of formulation of the country-specific priorities should be strengthened by means of a more structured dialogue with the educational authorities of the partner countries.

- Tempus funds should be used for what the programme does best, i.e. promoting mobility, exchanges and innovation of study programmes.

- The relevance and the impact of the programme should be actively promoted at the level of the national authorities.

- Field monitoring should be reintroduced on a selective basis.

Against this background, the main Tempus action lines in 2004 were:

-Maximising the impact of the programme through a reinforced top-down approach, a strengthened policy dialogue, and more structural measures;

-Reinforcing mobility by promoting individual mobility grants;

-Adapting and reinforcing selection and monitoring procedures;

-Better defining the role of National Tempus Offices.

Overall, the report indicates that the implementation of the programme in 2004 was guided by the results of the 2003 interim evaluation of Tempus III (2000 - 2006). Dialogue and consultation with the authorities responsible for higher education in partner countries led to reinforced national priorities, which should contribute to maximise the programme’s impact on partner countries’ higher education development.

Tempus has also been instrumental in supporting partner countries’ efforts to put Bologna related issues high on their reform agenda. The increased support for individual mobility of higher education professionals and the introduction of structural and complementary activities, coupled with dialogue and national priorities, contributed to confirm Tempus as an instrument of choice for the implementation and formulation of partner countries’ higher education policies.