| Education And Training 2010 |
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BACKGROUND In the CommuniqueSee Presidency Conclusions at {Link without Title} following the Lisbon Spring Summit in March 2000, the Heads Of State And Government of the European Union ear-marked a number of areas where they felt that improvements in education and training were needed cf paragraphs 25 and 26, and asked the Ministers of Education to reflect together about the future of education systems and how they served citizens. "The European Council asks the Council (Education) to undertake a general reflection on the concrete future objectives of education systems, focusing on common concerns and priorities while respecting national diversity, with a view to ... presenting a broader report to the European Council in the Spring of 2001." (paragraph 27). The Education Council in June 2000 asked the welcomed the Work Programme, asked the Ministers and the Commission to implement it, and to report back two years later. The Open Method Of Coordination had found its place in Education and Training. Content of the original Work Programme The original work programme adopted jointly by the Council and the Commission was a consensual document. It underlined the importance for the European Union of improving education and training systems, and set three strategic objectives:
training systems in the European Union
The Work Programme recognised the importance of Education and Training for competitiveness and as a part of Europe's response to the challenges of globalisation; and in that context set what it described as "ambitious but realistic goals"see section 3 of the document: #The Highest quality will be achieved in education and training and Europe will be recognised as a world-wide reference for the quality and relevance of its education and training systems and institutions #Education and training systems in Europe will be compatible enough to allow citizens to move between them and take advantage of their diversity #Holders of qualifications, knowledge and skills acquired anywhere in the EU will be able to get them effectively validated throughout the Union for the purpose of career and further learning #Europeans, at all ages, will have access to lifelong learning #Europe will be open to cooperation for mutual benefits with all other regions and should be the most-favoured destination of students, scholars and researchers from other world regions. The Work Programme underlines the way in which the Open Method Of Coordination should work in Education and Training. This was to draw on tools "such as indicators and ''benchmarks'' as well as on comparing best practice, periodic monitoring, evaluation and peer review, organised as mutual learning processes". "EDUCATION AND TRAINING 2010" The actual name "Education and Training 2010" does not appear until the first Joint Report between the Commission and the Council in Spring 2004. In the Commission's draft report, presented on 11 November 2003 See Commission document COM(2003) 685 final the Work Programme jointly adopted earlier is referred to as "Education and Training 2010" - a deliberate attempt by the Commission to provide an overall identity and coherence to a multifarious process involving numerous departments and services within each Member State. The joint report adopted by the Commission and the Council on 26 February 2004 ''"Education & Training 2010" – The success of the Lisbon Strategy hinges on urgent reforms"'' keeps the name originally proposed by the Commission, but comparison between the two documents shows that while the content is parallel, the tone was lowered and made less urgent - and therefore easier for the European Union 's Member States to accept. The reportSee Council document 6905/04 of 3 March 2004 at [http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/jir_council_final.pdf :
The 2006 joint reportSee Commission document COM (2005)final/2 of 30 November 2005 at {Link without Title} was almost exactly the Commission's draft , with an additional set of "key messages" to the European Council See page 7 of Press Release 6150/06 (Presse42) from the Council . Like its predecessor, it underlined the importance of education and training within the Lisbon Strategy and for competitiveness reasons and stressed the need for better progress. THE SUBSTANCE OF THE PROGRAMME Policy development and exchange The Commission's original strategy to encourage exchanges of policies and practices between the Education Ministries of the European Union was based on the development of thematic working groups in the various areas covered by the strategy. Member States were to take part on those areas which interested them. In practice, only a certain number of these groups functioned well - notably those in the areas of teacher training, ICTs and Education/training, key competences for school leavers, and measuring progres through indicators and benchmarks. The latter group has overseen the production of reports by the Commission each year measuring progress and analysing movements in educational indicators against a set of benchmarks (see below). Reports from these groups are available on the Commission's web site at {Link without Title} . Benchmarking The concept of Benchmarking is viewed with considerable suspicion by a number of European countries, though all accept the principle that education and training policies should be based on evidence. When the Commission therefore put forward its proposal for benchmarking European benchmarks in education and training: follow-up to the Lisbon European Council; document COM(2002)629 final of 20 November 2002, it therefore clarified that its proposals were not benchmarks in the normal sense but "targets" which the European Union as a whole should seek to achieve. After difficult discussions between countries, this concept was adopted by the Education Council in its conclusions of May 2003. cf document 8981/03 of the Council of the European Union at http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/after-council-meeting_en.pdf REFERENCES
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