GHDI logo

Wrangling for Authority (January 26, 1976)

page 3 of 3    print version    return to list previous document      next document


(2) In order to experiment with reform models, special regulations for coursework and examinations may be enacted and these may take effect alongside existing regulations. Experimental reform models shall be assessed after a fixed length of time.

(3) Instruction in a new course of study shall not commence until the relevant examination regulations have been approved or enacted.

(4) The institutions of higher education shall take the measures required for the reform of higher education and for the promotion of higher education didactics.


Section 9
Study Reform Commissions

(1) In order to promote the reform of studies and examinations and to coordinate and support the reform work already carried out at individual institutions of higher education, study reform commissions shall be established. The federal states [Länder] shall create joint study reform commissions for the jurisdiction of the present Act.

(2) Study reform commissions shall be established by the responsible state [Land] authorities in cooperation with the institutions of higher education that are affected. For courses of study that cover largely identical fields or prepare students for careers in related areas, joint study reform commissions should be established. Furthermore, care shall be taken to ensure that the work of the individual study reform commissions is comparable in terms of organization and content.

(3) The planned study reform commissions shall include representatives from higher education institutions, the responsible government authorities, and members of the relevant professions. In the case of courses leading to a state examination, government representatives shall have more than half of the votes; in study reform commissions pursuant to subsection 1, sentence 2, they shall have at least two-thirds of the votes.

(4) The study reform commissions shall issue, within an established timeframe, recommendations on the reorganization of the [various] courses of study and on the development of a range of courses of study commensurate with the requirements of Section 4, subsection 3, nos. 1-3. The recommendations shall refer to:

1. the conclusions drawn from developments in scholarship and the professions, and from changes in professional practices, in general, with regard to the goals and essential content of the respective course of study;
2. the essential content of the terminal examination requirements, including the recognition of transfer credits for completed coursework and successful examinations,
3. the standard length of study for the respective course of study (Section 10, subsections 2-4.)

[ . . . ]



Source: Hochschulrahmengesetz (HRG) vom 26. Januar 1976 [Framework Act for Higher Education of January 26, 1976]; reprinted in Arnold Harttung et al., eds., Willy Brandt, Zum sozialen Rechtsstaat. Reden und Dokumente [Willy Brandt. On the Social Constitutional State. Speeches and Documents]. Berlin, 1983, pp. 248-51.

Translation: Allison Brown and GHDI staff. In completing this translation, the GHDI staff referred to a translation of the Framework Act for Higher Education that appeared in Western European Education, vol. 18, no. 1 (1986), pp. 60-78.

first page < previous   |   next > last page