Education in the Mediterranean region
10 June 2009 - General announcements
The European Movement International launched a new blog in the framework of the upcoming Congress of Valencia on the two main themes Education and Migration in the Mediterranean Region.
The Valencia Congress follows up on the North-South Mediterranean Dialogue started 2006 at the Mediterranean Congress in Algiers.
The Congress will take place from 19th until 21st of November 2009 in Valencia. The aim is to define a line of conduct on the two main topics, starting from your experiences with the perspective of a larger cooperation between the two shores of the Mediterranean.
The Valenciablog will serve as the platform to prepare the Congress of Valencia. Through the blog the European Movement will collect your ideas, proposals and experiences on Education and Migration in the euro-Mediterranean area. The most popular recommendations will be discussed and debated with politicians and representatives of the Mediterranean countries.
Education is a crucial matter both South and North of the Mediterranean region. In the South, the number of children reaching school-age is increasing rapidly and Governments are battling to provide enough quality schools for them. In the North, on the contrary, the number of school-aged children is decreasing each year as the general demographic trend in the EU is negative. Despite these differences in demographic evolution, both sides have trouble adapting the educational system to the needs of the national and international labour markets.
Addressing the theme of Education in this framework means dealing with issues of mobility and employability, the quality of training programmes, access to education and its adaptation to the labour market, as well as the problem of brain drain.
Please share your experiences and reactions with us on these themes (or others that seem important and relevant to you) related to Education. Your comments will be debated on in order to draw lessons and respond better to these issues, and to strengthen the Mediterranean dialogue and the South-North cooperation in this field.