Higher Education Accountability System In Germany Since The Reunification

The development of the accountability system is an important direction of the reform of the German higher education management system.Since the reunification of Germany,changes in the external context of the higher education system,such as the transformation of the national political system,promotion of the Bologna process,and the impact of new public management ideas,provide the prerequisites for higher education reform.Within the higher education system,with the development of the knowledge economy,the value of higher education has become increasingly prominent.However,the supply of financial resources for higher education in Germany is insuffieient.At the same time,due to the rigid management system of higher education and the decline of quality,the internal contradictions in higher education have intensified.Stakeholders are eager to reform the higher education system.Therefore,under the dual influences of internal and external factors,Germany has established an accountability mechanism to ensure the quality of higher education,making it more adaptable to the direction of social development.First of all,as far as the aceountability subject is concerned,with the changes in the power of German higher education stakeholders,internal stakeholders such as principals,professors and students,as well as external stakeholders such as state power,certification bodies and public third-party funding providers,are involved in accountability to universities.Secondly,the content of German higher education accountability is wide.It not only takes into account the interests of the accountability subjects,but also focuses on the achievements of functions of teaching,research,social services and internationalization,and the use of financial resources and human resources.Thirdly,the means of German higher education accountability are diversified.The accountability subjects mainly use information disclosure,contract nanagement,performance appropriation,certification,evaluation,ranking and other methods.In general,after nearly three decades of development,the German higher education accountability mechanism has become relatively complete and it mainly presents the following characteristics:the definition of responsibility for higher education is clearer;the main subjects of accountability are the state government and principal;accountability content focuses on the quality of education and research;the means of accountability combine responsive accountability with rewards and penalties accountability;accountability system replaces traditional trust mechanisms for universities.In addition,Germany emphasizes the limits of accountability for higher education.In the process of trade-off between aceountability and autonomy,Germany puts more emphasis on university autonomy and academic freedom.Moreover,the trend of the Gerlan higher education accountability system mainly includes:paying more attention to the fairness of higher education,attaching importance to the quality of teaching and research,developing more flexible aceountability methods and proeedures,improving the transparency of the university.It can be said that the German higher education accountability system guarantees the quality of higher education and promotes its orderly development.The study of the higher education accountability system in Germany can provide some references for the development of Chinals higher education accountability system.