Brussels, 12/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is urging the member states to increase their investment in education, in an effort to prevent the “education deficit” increasing. It made this announcement on the basis of the mixed results from the education and training report it published on Thursday 12 November.
The 4th edition of the “education deficit” follow-up report identifies the number of young people who have failed to obtain a minimum education standard and highlights this as the most important challenge that needs to be met over the next few years. The report illustrates that the member states are on their way to achieving the EUROPE 2020 Strategy targets and are now at the halfway mark: the early school leaving rate in Europe stands at 11.1%, with the 10% target set for 2020; the number of people aged between 30 and 34 who hold graduate diplomas stands at 37.9%, as opposed to a 40% target for 2020. Nonetheless, these figures need to be qualified somewhat: the students from disadvantaged and immigrant backgrounds are much more exposed to the risk of failing to reach the minimum education levels. Students born abroad are twice as likely to be early school leavers than students born in the country. 15-year-old pupils from the most modest socio-economic backgrounds are five times as likely not to attain basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills than their counterparts from more well off categories. According to the report, no member state is immune to these findings and it is particularly borne out in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, Greece and Slovakia, as well as Hungary (where more than half of these young people are unable to solve the simplest of maths questions).
A problem of investment. During the presentation of the report, the Commissioner for Education, Tibor Navracsics, called for “new and reinforced investment into education to ensure high quality open, supportive and tolerant learning environments for all”. According to Commission figures, education budgets have fallen by 3.2% throughout Europe since 2010, for the third consecutive year. The main cuts fell in the Netherlands, Finland, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom (the last four of these countries displayed more difficulties from a demographic point of view).
Recommendations.
The study confirms the need to provide a new boost to investment for education and develop more inclusive education systems in Europe. It is recommending that the member states concentrate on improving access, quality and the relevance of their education and training systems. The measures identified include better training for teachers and the transition between different levels and kinds of education. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)
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