Brussels, 19/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - Education and training policies alone cannot combat poverty and social exclusion. Synergies are needed between these policies and others in order to achieve results. Education ministers held a debate on Friday 19 November on the role of education in combating poverty and social exclusion, themes which had already been on the agenda of the previous Spanish Presidency of the EU Council. The Belgian Presidency, however, wishes to go into them again in more depth given the economic and social crisis, the effect of which is beginning to be felt. Ministers shared their experience on strategies and cross-cutting measures conducted in their countries in order to combat these problems. They also announced measures envisaged at the educational level to combat inequality. “Progress has been made and we are all on the same wavelength, moving in the same direction”, said Belgian minister, Pascal Smet, who chaired the discussions. All delegations unanimously back an integrated approach with a view to combating social exclusion and many of the delegations spoke of the important role of urbanism policies and housing to help poor families live in more decent conditions. Pascal Smet is quoted as saying: “It is important not only to look at what is happening in schools but also outside the schools”.
Poverty is mainly concentrated in urban areas and efforts must focus in particular on European towns, said Smet in his introduction. In their presentations, most ministers placed special emphasis on the importance of stepping up dialogue between teachers, families and society. Low-income families must find support to help them put their children in education as soon as possible to ensure that children are well on track to school and professional success from an early age. Many ministers also spoke of how important it is to combat the social exclusion of migrant children, especially Roma children who are particularly stigmatised, through an educational system that is better adapted to their specific needs. “One cannot hope to have inclusive and sustainable growth without investing in the field of education (…). There is a need to invest and even increase spending”, Education and Training Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou reiterated. She welcomed the fact that many good practices exist in member states. Vassiliou pointed out that, today, 84 million Europeans live below the poverty line, including 20 million children. The chances that these children will have quality training, leading to employment, are very slim given the socio-economic conditions in which they live. It is a vicious circle with the poverty of the parents entailing the poverty of their children, once they have reached adulthood. In May 2010, ministers had identified vital factors for combating poverty and social exclusion and said that an inter-sectorial approach allows such obstacles to inclusion to be overcome more effectively. It is now necessary to implement adequate policies, policies that must be coupled to others (employment, health, culture in particular), with a view to more far-reaching reform, Vassiliou stressed. She announced projects that the DG Education has on its table: 1) a Council recommendation for reducing the number of young people who drop out of education early; 2) a communication on education and care for children in infancy, and 3) a Council recommendation for promoting non-formal and informal education, so that the experience developed in these areas is officially recognised. (I.L./transl.jl)