Brussels, 12/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - At the Education, Youth and Culture Council on Tuesday 12 May, European Education Ministers adopted a new strategic framework for European co-operation in education and training until 2020. The current framework, which was adopted in 2002, provided an excellent basis for work, but it has become too restrictive, given the challenges of demographic change and technical progress. In their comments, delegations highlighted the need to diversify what is on offer in education and training, in the specific context of economic crisis, which must not become an excuse to cut funding. “We need to have fine objectives, but we also need a good basis for cooperation,” said Czech Minister Miroslava Kopicová. A key element of the effective renewal of the framework will be improving the status of teachers. Teachers are central to achieving the objectives and the development of the profession, several delegations said.
During the debate, a number of ministers said that the reforms had to fit with national peculiarities (Austria, in particular, stressed this point,), but all agreed that the reforms should be framed around four strategic objectives which will give shape to the European framework, and this within the open method of communication (OMC) which, through its proactive approach based on the sharing of best practice, provides the most appropriate approach for increased cooperation in the education sector.
The four objectives are:
1) pulling out all the stops to ensure that lifelong learning and mobility become realities: national qualifications frameworks must continue to be developed by member states and learning pathways must be more flexible; in terms of mobility, the objective of 20% mobility by 2020 combines ambition and realism, according to the European Commission and the 36 ministers of states participating in the Bologna Process: “I think it is possible, but we have to improve the conditions that lead to mobility,” said Education, Training, Culture and Youth Commissioner Jan Figel;
2) improving the quality and effectiveness of education and training: the major challenge is to ensure that each acquires the key skills defined by the member states, in an education framework that strives for quality; Greece spoke of the need to tackle a new form of illiteracy, namely a lack of knowledge of new technologies, and proposed that special attention be paid to this problem in school curricula and lifelong learning;
3) promoting fairness, social cohesion and active citizenship: every citizen, whatever his/her origins or social class, should be able to acquire and develop the vocational skills required by the world of work, with learning throughout life; Luxembourg drew attention to the high concentration of immigrants that had grown recently in that country and the challenge it faces in offering appropriate learning which allows the incomers to develop their particular talents;
4) encouraging creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training: these are vitally important qualities that are sought by companies which want to grow and develop globally: the first challenge is promoting the acquisition of key cross-cutting skills (“digital” skills, initiative, the spirit of enterprise; the second challenge is getting the knowledge triangle (education-research-innovation) to work through the development of all convergence networks.
“The framework should give us a full picture of all the aspects of education and let us act to meet the various changes, for that, we need high qualified staff, a precondition for competitiveness and sustainable development,” said Kopicová, closing the debate. “The conclusions adopted today will lay the ground for fruitful cooperation over the coming decade,” said Figel. The Commissioner said, too, that third countries had to be involved in the debate so that there was “openness” and so that “new ideas” could be found. (I.L./transl.rt)