Education at The Center of European Concerns

 

In March 2000, the Lisbon Summit set an ambitious objective for the European Union: "To become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth accompanied by quantitative improvement. and qualitative employment and greater social cohesion 3. In this perspective, education and training policies are called upon to play a leading role in ensuring that human resources meet the needs. This boost given to European policy by the Heads of State and Government underlines the key role of education and training in employment in order to contribute to the Luxembourg and Cardiff processes. It is accompanied by the explicit formulation of measurable objectives, namely:

Each year substantially increase per capita investment in human resources;

                To halve by 2010 the number of people aged 18 to 24 who have only completed lower secondary education and who do not continue their education or training;

             ensure that schools and training centers, all with Internet access, gradually become local centers for acquiring knowledge that are versatile and accessible to all, using the most appropriate methods in depending on the great diversity of target groups; to set up partnerships between schools, training centers, companies and research establishments for the acquisition of knowledge which is beneficial to all;

             adopt a European framework defining the new basic skills which lifelong education and training must enable to acquire: skills in information technology, foreign languages, technological culture, entrepreneurship and social skills; institute a European diploma for basic information technology skills, with decentralized award procedures, in order to promote digital culture throughout the Union;

             define by the end of the year 2000, the means to encourage the mobility of students, teachers, trainers and researchers by making optimal use of existing Community programs (Socrates, Leonardo, Janessa), by 'elimination of obstacles and through increased transparency in the recognition of qualifications and periods of study and training; take measures to remove obstacles to teacher mobility by 2002 and to attract quality teachers;

develop a common European curriculum vitae template, which will be used on a voluntary basis to promote mobility by helping education and training institutions and employers to better assess the knowledge acquired.

The European Council also asked the Education Council “to undertake a general reflection on the concrete objectives of future education systems, focused on common concerns and priorities while respecting national diversity, with a view to contributing to the processes of education. Luxembourg and Cardiff and to present a more comprehensive report to the European Council in spring 2001. ” 5 On during their meeting in Stockholm on March 23 and 24. 2001. The Council decided that during 2001, it will determine, in cooperation with the Commission: the method of evaluating the degree of achievement of the objectives, the concrete work to be undertaken at European level in each of the fields concerned, which areas lend themselves to peer review and exchange of good practice, how to measure progress through a benchmarking system and which areas will prompt the development of new indicators. The results of this work will be the subject of a new report that the Education Council will submit to the Barcelona Summit in spring 2002.

3In addition, the Commission will also submit to the European Council, in spring 2001, an annual summary report on the progress made on the basis of structural indicators in the fields of employment, innovation, economic reforms and social cohesion.

In the context of the Lisbon follow-up, three important subjects, on the immediate agenda of the Commission and the Member States, relate in particular to education:

The eLearning initiative, which complements the Europe initiative launched by the President of the European Commission, revolves around four axes: an effort to equip schools with multimedia computers, an effort to train European teachers in digital techniques, the development of European educational services and software and the acceleration of the networking of schools and trainers;

the Commission memorandum on lifelong education and training, which calls for active citizenship in a Europe of knowledge and for the implementation of a European strategy in this area; the conclusions of the national debates triggered by this Memorandum will be incorporated into the action plan that the Commission is preparing for the end of 2001;

the European Report on the Quality of Education which was presented for the first time in June 2000 to the Education Council as well as to the Conference of European Ministers of Education in Bucharest. It offers sixteen indicators, some of which derive from the work of Eurydice, selected in close cooperation with a group of experts appointed by the education ministers of twenty-six European countries.

5Subject to change over time depending on political priorities, current indicators cover the following areas:

Level reached (mathematics, reading, science, foreign languages, learning to learn, information and communication technologies, civic education);

success and transition (dropout rate, upper secondary education completion, higher education enrollment rate);

School education monitoring (parental participation, evaluation and management of school education);

Resources and structures (expenditure on education per student, education and training of teachers, attendance rate of a pre-primary establishment, number of students per computer).

This report was welcomed by the Ministers of Education who asked the Commission to update it regularly and to include new indicators to cover the field of education and training throughout the year. life.

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