Brussels, 30/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The aims of educational systems, lifelong learning, mobility, and access to quality education for all will be the focus of the work by EU Education Ministers under the EU Swedish Presidency, Swedish Education and Science Minister Thomas Östros told the EP Committee on Culture and Education. Work will be conducted following closely on the work of the Lisbon Summit of March 2000, explained Mr Östros, who specified that:
1. EU Education Ministers should adopt their report on the "future objectives for educational systems" at the Council of 12 February in Brussels. The report, which will then be submitted to the European Summit in Stockholm, comprises two main objectives to: - improve the quality of educational systems in the EU Member States (this presupposes systems whose content is constantly adjusted, open to Europe and the world and integrated in the information society); and promote access by all Union citizens to such systems (which means easy access to high quality education and to lifelong education and training).
2. Still in preparation for the European Summit of Stockholm, the ministers must encourage citizens to follow high quality education and to train and learn throughout their lives. This will be a key theme of the Informal Employment/Research Council to be held from 1 to 3 March in Uppsala. The Council will above all tackle questions on staff recruitment in the sciences and technologies sector.
3. Finally, the ministers will, during their Council of 28 May in Brussels, examine the Commission memorandum on lifelong learning, the Commission's e-learning communication, the actions of the European Year of Languages 2001 (that will in the meantime have been inaugurated from 18-20 February in Lund) and the results of the 5th Conference of Ministers from the EU, the CEEC and EFTA, to be held from 28 to 30 June in Riga.