Brussels, 20/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - Out of five benchmarks set out for education and training in 2003, only one had been achieved by 2010: increasing the number of maths, science and technology graduates. This is the observation made in the European Commission report published on Tuesday 19 April, which examined progress on the benchmarks set out by European education ministers in May 2003.
The report notes that over the past decade, member states have achieved one of the five-benchmark sets out for 2010. Since 2000, the Union has seen a 37% rise in the number of mathematics, science and technology graduates- easily outstripping the target of 15%.
Androulla Vassiliou, the Commissioner for Education said: “The good news is that education levels in Europe have risen considerably… But early school leaving continues to be a problem that affects one in seven young people in the European Union and one in five pupils still have poor reading skills at the age of 15”. The Commissioner explained, “we need further efforts from member states to reach our joint European targets”. The Commissioner strongly urges member states not to make cuts in education budgets.
Reading skills. According to 2009 reference criteria, the proportion of poor readers is expected to stand at 17% in 2010. This is only a slight improvement from the rate of 21.3% in 2000 to 20% in 2009. This bad news particularly affects Bulgaria (41%) and Romania (40.4%). Children from immigrant backgrounds are usually a year and a half behind in reading, compared to equivalent native speakers at the age of fifteen.
Early school leavers. The proportion of young people leaving school early should not be above 10%. The rate in 2009 stood at 14.4%, as opposed to 17.6% in 2000. Girls (12.5%) are higher achievers in this field than boys (16.3%). The worst performers are Malta (36.8%), Portugal (31.2%), Spain (31.2%) and Italy (19.2%). Top of the class, with an early school-leaving rate of less than 6%, are the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.
Education levels. According to reference criteria, at least 85% of 22-year-olds ought to have completed secondary school education. Since 2000, this percentage in the EU has only increased very slightly: 76.6% in 2000 to 78.6% in 2009. The Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia are the highflyers.
The Community average of adults taking part in lifelong learning has not reached the 12.5% benchmark set out for 2010. Participation increased from 7.1% in 2000 to 9.3% in 2009 for 25-64-year-olds. Since 2005, this participation rate has even fallen and the 15% objective set out for 2020 cannot be guaranteed. The best results were recorded in Denmark (31.6%), Finland (22.1%) and in Sweden (22.2%). (L.C./trans/fl)