Brussels, 01/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 1 February, the European Commission kicked off the work of the high-level expert group on literacy. The objective of this group of independent experts, under the chairmanship of Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, is to develop guidelines to raise the level of literacy within the European Union, as part of the education objectives laid down in the EUROPE 2020 strategy (bringing the early school-leaving rate down below 10% and to raise to 40% or more the numbers of people with higher education qualifications). “The launch of this group marks the start of a Europe-wide campaign to address the root causes of low literacy levels (…). We must act now to tackle this problem”, said Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, who oversees the education and training dossier. “We hope to provide a bold vision on the issues to be addressed and how literary can help us to create strong, competitive economies and healthy societies within the EU”, Princess Laurentien added.
Commissioner Vassilou, present the day before to present a strategy to reduce school drop-out rates in the member states (see yesterday's EUROPE), stated that the work of the expert group aimed at the same goal: to attack the problem at its root to improve the skills of European citizens at a time when the employment market is demanding increasing numbers of qualified employees. The last PISA survey showed that in Europe, 20% of 15-year-olds cannot read or write, compared to 15% in the United States, 14% in Japan and 10% Canada. For adults, there is also an urgent need to act. The number of adults in Europe with few or no qualifications has been estimated at around 80 million, or one third of the population, as the proportion of highly qualified jobs is set to rise from 29% currently to 35% by the end of the decade. Therefore, reading and writing skills are vital, as they are decisive in continuing training.
The high level group, which is made up of experts, has been tasked with lending visibility and political importance to the job of increasing literacy levels in Europe. It will analyse elements of scientific knowledge and assess the most effective policies, at regular meetings which will be held over the next 18 months. Proposals will then be put to the Commission in the course of next year. On the basis of these proposals, Vassiliou will present recommendations to the education ministers in autumn 2012. On this basis, the member states and the Commission will include this plank in a strategic framework in European cooperation in the field of education and training (Education and Training 2020). (I.L./transl.fl)