Press Release: High level group to focus on quality and excellence in teaching

Higher education is crucial for developing the knowledge and skills that Europe needs to compete in the world economy, but Member States are not investing enough to modernise their higher education systems. A new High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education, launched by the European Commission on 18 September 2012, will address this issue as part of a comprehensive three-year review of the sector across the European Union.

The group, chaired by Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland, will focus first on how best to achieve quality and excellence in teaching and learning; then, in the second year, it will discuss how to adapt learning in the digital age. The Group will identify best practices and creative solutions, as well as making recommendations to national and European policy makers, universities and colleges. It will report for the first time in 2013 and has a mandate until 2015.