Brussels, 08/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - The next meeting of the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council will take place on Friday 10 February in Brussels, under Danish chairmanship and with the participation of European Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou. European education ministers will discuss the difficulties in achieving the two objectives that the European Union has set in education as part of its “EUROPE 2020” strategy, namely cutting the number of young people quitting school early and increasing the proportion of higher education graduates. According to a joint Council and Commission report “Education and Training in an Intelligent, Sustainable and Inclusive Europe”, the EU will not be able to attain these objectives if the current trend continues. In 2010, the average rate of early school leavers stood at 14.1% in the EU, as opposed to 14.4% the previous year, with marked differences in the different member states. For example, the two most extreme examples were 36.9% in Malta and 4.7% in Slovakia.
Ministers will also discuss the new “Erasmus for All” programme for 2014-2020, organised by the Commission in the education field. This seeks to take over from the seven current programmes (lifelong education and training [Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci, Comenius, Grundtvig], Youth in Action, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Alfa, Edulink and the bilateral cooperation programme with industrialised countries). It received a rather mixed response at the European Parliament education and culture committee. Several MEPs are afraid that this common “umbrella” creates an amalgam of sub-programmes. Ministers will hold a public debate on the key role of education and training in efforts to reduce youth unemployment, as part of the Commission communication, “Initiative on Youth Employment Prospects”. This communication calls on member states to work towards preventing early school leaving, helping young people obtain useful skills on the labour market, organising training programmes, providing on-the-job training and helping young people to find their first quality job. (IL/transl.fl)