Brussels, 24/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - Education must remain the priority of the member states in the short, medium and long terms, the education ministers of the 28 member states of the EU, meeting for the "Education Council" in Brussels on 24 February, unanimously stressed. The ministers took part in a public debate on skills and employability in light of the results of the recent PISA (programme for international student assessment) and PIAAC (programme for the international assessment of adult competencies) studies of the OECD. PISA measures the results of 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics and science, and PIAAC produces comparable data regarding the skills of adults. These two surveys revealed very different results between the member states of the EU and, on the whole, fairly mediocre ones compared to Asian countries. The exercise called for from the member states was a self-criticism of the results they obtained in these two surveys and an analysis of the basis of the reforms they have set in place in recent years, with a view to improving the skills of learners. "It was a highly constructive dialogue (…). The initiatives of the European Commission show that it is on the right track. We carried out an extremely interesting exchange of views over the various ways reform has been implemented in the member states, by their own initiative", said the Greek Minister for Education and Religious Affairs, Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos. "It was a very lively discussion on an issue which concerns all citizens (…). We have to give all citizens the same opportunities to become active citizens", added the Commissioner for education and training, Androulla Vassiliou. The debate comes on top of the conclusions previously adopted unanimously on improving skills performance, in the framework of the European Semester 2014 (see other article).
Following the exchange, a number of observations were made:
Investing more is not a barometer of success: although the ministers agree that investment is necessary for the reform of the education systems, throwing loads of money at them does not automatically lead to quality reforms. A few member states have made massive investments, but have seen only mediocre results, Ms Vassiliou stressed. "There is no point in throwing money down the drain (…). It has to be properly used, first of all we have to understand what is going on", said the Portuguese minister. "Investments have to be made where they are needed", the Lithuanian minister added.
Improving the education system via cooperation. In the absence of money, the member states (particularly the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Romania and Bulgaria) called for better cooperation and exchange of best practice, which demonstrably leads to good results. Estonia has experimented by entering into closer cooperation with Finland, a particularly high-performing country, ending up with considerably better results in the most recent PISA study than in the previous one, Ms Vassiliou observed. A number of member states (such as Luxembourg and Hungary) warned against a system of "copying and pasting" effective practices from another member state, which may not prove as efficient due to differing national characteristics;
Fighting inequality linked to immigration on the rise. Some countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria) referred to problems encountered in the educational environment in managing to maintain or create fair and effective systems, when these have experienced a considerable influx of immigrant populations in recent years (intra-EU and extra-EU), who do not speak the language of the host country and whose children need specific support at school. This reality is likely to keep in place the gaps between the high-performing students from middle-class backgrounds and failing students from less-favoured and/or immigrant backgrounds, whereas the member states have laid down the objective of achieving egalitarian systems accessible to all, with the entire population mastering basic skills.
Building bridges between the world of education and the world of business. There is an obvious link between skills and the employment market; emphasis must be laid on developing and enquiring these new skills, with the aim not only of excellence, but also of bringing competences into line with the requirements of the employment market, Minister Arvanitopoulos summed up. Block training was referred to (by Germany and Austria, for instance) as an option of choice to guarantee both the theoretical knowledge necessary and learning on the ground.
Modernising and increasing the attractiveness of professional training. A number of countries referred to shortfalls in professional training, which is often seen as the "poor relation" in the world of education, and the need to reform this type of learning. This is the case for the Netherlands and Malta.
Improving the skills of teachers. The role of teachers in putting across knowledge is unanimously acknowledged. The importance of ongoing training for teachers and adding value to the profession is vital, several member states stressed (France, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Cyprus and Poland). A lack of motivation in young people, as observed by Finland, could be stemmed by skilled teachers, using more modern teaching methods more relevant to reality.
Importance of early learning. All of the member states which raised the issue (among them Germany, Croatia, Latvia and Poland) were unanimous: teaching children from a very early age gives them additional tools to succeed in the future.
The results of the debates will be announced by the Presidency to the Spring European Council to be held on 20 and 21 March and will feature in the summary reports of the sectorial Councils directly concerned by the EUROPE 2020 strategy. (IL/transl.fl)