Brussels, 12/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - European education ministers will gather for an informal meeting in Madrid on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 April. Among the issues up for debate are the role of education in the EUROPE 2020 strategy after the European Council conclusions and the next generation of European educational programmes, especially the Youth in Movement initiative. Ministers will also discuss the need to provide fresh impetus to higher education scholarships and programmes in Europe, despite the crisis. “Without training and education, there can be no real way out of the crisis,” warned Spanish Education Minister Ángel Gabilondo.
In an interview given in the lead-up to the informal meeting, the minister stressed the need for greater investment in education, especially in difficult times. Pointing out that the spring European Council had said that knowledge and innovation should be absolute priorities in Europe, Gabilondo takes the view that, now, thought has to be given to what this means in terms of new jobs against the backdrop of a new sustainable economy. “This is what we are going to try to give serious thought to, placing emphasis on the social dimension of education as a decisive factor for European integration,” he said. Emerging from the crisis, must not be done in any old way or at any price: it has to be done in a way that safeguards the values Europe believes in, such as equality and social welfare, he added. He hopes that, following discussions in the informal meeting, his counterparts will accept that education is a key factor in the new economy, one which has to be tied in with new programmes whose characteristics, along with the measures to be taken to ensure that they are effective, are clearly set out. Gabilondo also wants the Youth in Movement initiative to be further developed. This initiative is, he says, “an excellent idea that has yet to be developed as much as we would like”. Chiming perfectly with the thrust of the Spanish Presidency action in education, the minister hopes, time having been spent on putting in place the technical measures with regard to the structure of degrees and credits, this will be backed up by social policies that will guarantee inclusion and equality. “Nothing does more for social equality than education,” he argues. (I.L./transl.rt)