Brussels, 26/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - Teachers are central to all education systems and are a decisive factor in educational success. But how can their skills be improved and how can they be motivated when financial resources are limited? These are the questions the education ministers of the EU attempted to answer during a public debate on 26 November. “The challenges are enormous. (…) The ability to get across the desire to learn is very important for the future”, stressed the Cypriot Minister, George Demosthenous.
Improving the quality of teachers and enhancing their status have always been seen as important issues by the member states. Today, the financial constraints weigh heavily on the profession: in order to respond to the economic problems, salaries and services have been reduced or frozen in many educational systems. In Greece, the situation is particularly dramatic, with a reduction of up to 50% in teachers' salaries, according to the Greek minister. In their contributions from the floor, the member states all laid emphasis on the importance of the quality of teacher training, which must be continuous and personalised, with placements in schools for student teachers, in order to allow them to gain experience on the ground.
Teacher motivation is also very important, so that they do not end up leaving the education system before they retire. It is important to be very specific at skills level. Mediocre teaching harms pupils, stressed the Commissioner for Education and Training, Androulla Vassiliou, who stressed the need for more inspections in schools, to guarantee an adequate quality level. The Commissioner hopes that the new generation of head teachers will be able to manage the challenges facing the world of education. She added that positive results are possible, despite difficult budgetary conditions, by opting for judicious reforms, based on quality teaching. In this context, the Commissioner presented the Council with the new communication adopted last week by the European Commission, entitled “A strategy for rethinking education” and designed to help the member states in this process (see EUROPE 10734). “Europe is experiencing an emergency. We cannot do without quality education. We need better support for teachers”, the Commissioner concluded. (IL/transl.fl)