EU Commission Communication: "Improving Competences for the 21st Century: An Agenda for European Cooperation on Schools"
The European Commission wants Member States to cooperate better in order to make school systems more relevant to pupils' and employers' needs in the knowledge-based Europe of the future. In July the Commission presented the Communication "Improving Competences for the 21st Century: An Agenda for European Cooperation on Schools," which states that change, sometimes radical, will be needed if Europe's schools are to equip young people fully for life in this century.
The Commission proposes an agenda for cooperation, in three areas:
- A focus on giving all pupils the competences they need for life. This includes: increasing levels of reading literacy and numeracy; reinforcing learning-to-learn skills; and modernizing curricula, learning materials, teacher training, and assessment accordingly;
- A commitment to provide high quality learning for every student. This includes: generalizing pre-school education; improving equity in school systems; reducing dropout rates; and improving support within mainstream schooling for students with special needs; and
- Improving the quality of teachers and school staff. This includes: more and higher quality teacher education; more effective teacher recruitment; and help for school leaders to focus on improving learning.
School education is increasingly acknowledged as a key area for improvement if Member States are to meet the goals of the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs. But progress towards their benchmarks on improving reading literacy, reducing early school leaving and improving school participation has been disappointing.
One way for school systems to tackle disadvantage is to improve access to pre-primary education. There is also a need to make sure that schools are succeeding in teaching young people the basics through a more individualized approach to learning and a more creative use of assessment. The Commission proposes improving the quality of school education through more school self-evaluation and through better quality training for school staff.
The Communication is supported by a Staff Working Paper which sets out the latest research evidence and statistics, as well as a summary of the responses to the Public Consultation 'Schools for the 21st century'.
To read the Communication and supporting documents, please click here.
