Education and Training 2020: EU Member States agree to intensify their co-operation in education and training
25 May 2009 - General announcements
The European Council has adopted a new strategic framework for co-operation between EU Member States to reform their education and training systems. The programme on education, Education and Training 2010, is coming to its end. The new programme is an important signal in the current economic crisis, as common challenges, such as skills deficits, ageing societies and tough global competition need joint responses and countries learning from each other. The conclusions identify both immediate priorities for 2009-11 and long-term challenges for the decade ahead. The tools used to meet them include new education and training benchmarks for monitoring progress across Europe.
The quality and efficiency of education systems play a key role in supporting social inclusion, cultivating responsible citizenship and openness towards other cultures. For that, lifelong learning must become a reality across Europe so people can acquire key skills early and update them throughout their life.
While the responsibility for education and training lies with national governments, some challenges are common to all EU countries. These include: the need for a workforce that will have the right skills for tomorrow's jobs, and the threats of ageing societies and more intense global competition. Some goals, e.g. helping students and learners to move between countries, cannot be achieved by individual countries acting alone. Other goals will be easier to achieve if countries learn from each other and develop common tools, which can then be adapted to meet the specific needs of each country. EU Member States and the European Commission will strengthen their co-operation in order to support future reforms in the Member States.
The Council also agreed an updated set of benchmarks used to measure the progress made by education and training systems at European level. They cover the whole lifelong learning perspective, from participation in early childhood education, the basic skills of 15 year-olds and early education leavers, through to tertiary level attainment and the participation of adults in lifelong learning. Future work will be undertaken in the important political areas of student mobility, employability and language competences.
The full document can be found on the website of the European Union.