Brussels, 13/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission, on Thursday 13 November, published the 3rd edition of the Education and Training Monitor which assesses progress made by the member states in reforming and modernising their educational systems within the framework of the 2020 strategy. While positive developments have taken place, more has to be done if institutions are to equip young people with the skills required by today's labour market. The latest analyses show that many member states still have much to do to reach the EUROPE 2020 targets in education, said Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Tibor Navracsics, adding that there has been progress but that it is not spread evenly across the board. The report is complemented by 28 national reports assessing the specific situation of each member state.
The report reveals that the level of pupils leaving school early fell to an average of 12% in 2013. That is 0.7 percentage points lower than in 2012 but the target of below 10% has not yet been reached. The number of higher education graduates rose by one percentage point in 2013 to 36.9%, with a target of 40% set for 2020. Navracsics says the targets are within reach but notes that the average figures conceal wide disparities among the member states and within the member states.
Some of the report's key findings:
1) Spending reductions: from 2012, 19 member states have reduced expenditure on the education sector. Six have reduced funding by more than 5% (Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Hungary, Portugal and Romania). In addition, countries which were already spending relatively little on education have further reduced spending (Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia).
2) Employability: the employment rate of recent graduates with at least upper secondary education stands at 75.5%. In member states where education systems have links with the world of work, this rate is higher.
3) Equal opportunities: socio-economic and socio-cultural inequalities continue to have a negative impact on school results. This is especially the case in Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Luxembourg, Romania, Sweden and Slovakia.
4) Early leaving: wide regional differences are noted in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom and Belgium. Boys, socially disadvantaged young people and young people with physical handicaps are the categories of students more likely to leave school early.
5) Higher education graduates: on this target, too, there are also wide differences between regions in the same country. This is the case in the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia.
6) Basic skills: insufficient progress has been made on the basic knowledge of 15-year-olds in mathematics and science and in mastery of their mother tongue. Once again disparities are sometimes wide among member states and disadvantaged pupils and students do not generally have sufficient support to acquire this knowledge.
7) Cross-sectorial skills: more needs to be done on acquisition of additional skills, in particular, digital skills and knowledge of foreign languages.
8) Early-years education: ten member states have particularly taken on board the advantages of early-years education: Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.
9) Teaching staff: eleven member states have a shortage of qualified teachers: Austria, Belgium (French-speaking), Denmark, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Sweden. In general terms, the member states must do more to make the profession more attractive.
10) Open educational resources: students must be at the centre of the teaching process and new technologies must be involved in teaching practices but this is not sufficiently the case in European countries.
11) Teacher training: ten member states in particular must improve the level of skills of their higher education teachers so that students receive training appropriate to the demands of the world of work: Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Romania and Slovakia.
12) Vocational teaching and training: vocational teaching and training and apprenticeships play a key role in tackling youth unemployment. Eight member states in particular must take this into account, with particular reference to the youth guarantee (Bulgaria, Spain, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia).
13) Continuing education: eleven member states must pay more attention to the continuing training of workers to address the lack of qualified workers on the jobs market: Bulgaria, Estonia, Spain, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Slovakia.
14) Recognition of diplomas: not sufficient use is being made of the potential of European instruments for the recognition of skills. Greater mutual recognition of qualifications is needed among the member states, which have to cooperate more. (IL)