Education & Youth

Activity Report December 2002 - May 2003

1. OVERALL STRATEGY

With the Enlargement Process of the European Union having progressed substantially, the "European Perspective" now becomes more relevant for the SAP countries. Meeting the evolving European standards in education will be a precondition for the inclusion into the wider European Area of Education.

Having successfully supported education reform processes in SEE countries, the overall TFEY strategy in the field of education lays a stronger focus on linking developments in the region more closely with those within the EU.

For this purpose the Task Force Education and Youth has defined two main strategic objectives for 2003:

1. Support of national education reform efforts in the perspective of European Integration
2. Promotion of regional co-operation at system, expert and civil society level to support the SAP

Both aims are fully in line and substantially promote in the field of education and youth the two main strategic objectives of the Stability Pact for 2003, namely enhanced complementarity with the SAP and regional and cross-border co-operation.

Regional co-operation is an indispensable instrument to pool the accumulated experience and expertise in order to promote education development, especially within the framework of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

Regional co-operation is for example crucial for the creation of regional university networks necessary to increase student mobility at regional level, to facilitate the recognition of diplomas, etc., which are the main criteria for the participation of SEE countries in the Bologna Process.

2. REALISED ACTIVITIES

Since the last Regional Table held in Thessaloniki the TFEY concentrated its efforts on:

1. SEE Education Reform Implementation Initiative

   This Initiative will serve as an interface between ongoing SEE education reform at national level and European trends in order to achieve common European standards in education (esp. with respect to the EU "Detailed Work Programme on the follow-up of the Objectives of Education and Training Systems in Europe", the "Bologna Process" and the Bruges /Copenhagen Process).

   Over 40 key policy-makers from Southeast Europe and other European countries as well as representatives of different international organisations operating in the education sector attended the first meeting of Senior Officials from Southeast Europe held in December in Vienna. This meeting provided a unique opportunity to present the EU Detailed Work Programme and deepen discussions on country-specific reform needs in SEE.

   The participants emphasised the need to ensure complementarity between the ongoing and envisaged activities at national level and the European trends in education. While the Accession countries already participate in the Detailed Work Programme, SAP countries voiced a great need to be more closely informed as this process forms an important reference framework for ongoing national development processes. There was widespread support for the idea of including SAP countries in the consultation process with regard to the EU Detailed Work Programme so that they can be kept up-to-date on the overall progress and be able to keep pace with reforms.

   Participants furthermore agreed on instruments with which the Initiative could develop into a successful interface between national and European education developments. Among them were regular meetings in order to exchange experiences in key areas of education reform; peer review support; capacity building measures in targeted areas; establishment of a database of good practice in the region; strengthening the dissemination of information through existing networks (e.g. SEE-ECN).

   The Initiative should be flexible according to the individual pace of implementation of the participating countries. A final date for orientation, however, is the year 2010, by when both the objectives of the EU Detailed Work Program on education and training systems and the objectives of the Bologna declaration should be achieved. Supporting the idea of regional ownership, the overall coordination of the Initiative is envisaged to be transferred to the region by the beginning of 2004, through the establishment of a regional co-ordination office.

   Based on these overall discussions format and content of a Memorandum of Understanding, expected to be signed by SEE Education Ministers at the 7th Conference of European Ministers of Education to be held in Nicosia in June 2003, were further elaborated.

   The second meeting of Senior Officials was scheduled to take place in Romania at the end of March but was postponed due to security reasons with regard to the war in Iraq.

2. "Strategy 2001" - promoting education development processes in SEE countries at national and regional levels

   The so-called "Strategy 2001", reflects the TF's overall focus on mid- and long-term system development at national and regional level. It plays an important role in promoting an inclusive consultation process among key actors in education on reform priorities and the identification of ways for funding their implementation. 10 comprehensive analyses of the status of education systems in SEE (OECD Thematic Reviews) highlighting reform priorities and regional recommendations have been carried out. Launching events in Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and Kosovo organised in 2002 provided platforms for a wide range of stakeholders to discuss educational development priorities. The participation of experts from other SEE countries strengthened the regional exchange of experience on the policy level. The Task Force continues its efforts to support the organisation of further launching events in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, FYRoM, Moldova and Romania. The consultation process with FYRoM is in its finals phase (envisaged date of mid June 2003).

   The Task Force managed to ensure further financial support for the SEE Educational Co-operation Network as the information backbone of the " Strategy 2001". It will continue to provide a virtual library of documents and other information for key actors in education, both on national, regional and European level.

   Within the framework of this project a regional capacity building seminar for school inspectors from SEE was held in Belgrade from 17 to 19 March 2003 with the financial support of the TFEY.

   In co-operation between the Ministry of Education and Science of Montenegro, OSI and UNDP a donor information meeting was held in Brussels on April 16, 2003 with 50 participants. It served as an opportunity to present the education reform priorities of the Montenegrin Education Ministry.

3. Second Round ­ Priority Projects

   The Task Force was in constant contacts with respective donors in an effort to ensure financial support for 27 projects within the second call of priority projects in three key areas (Education for Democratic Citizenship, Young People, History and History Teaching) launched at the beginning of 2002. End of March the TF finished its donor coordination and fundraising efforts. Eleven projects have received support and a number of them were able to start implementation. Around 50 percent of the overall amount requested within the SP have been raised. Some of the projects unfortunately did not receive sufficient donor's interest.

4. Streamlining the organisational structure of the TFEY The Working Group Coordinators met in January 2003, in Vienna to discuss the current developments within the Stability Pact and their impact on the TF‘s future priorities and structure. They stressed the need to adjust the structure of the Task Force to its new priority the SEE Education Reform Implementation Initiative and to the recent streamlining process within the SP Stressing the value of the existing networks in the respective thematic fields for the new Initiative, it was recommended to maintain a platform for this expertise and the inter-institutional co-operation on the expert level. A new structure based on the WG Policy Development and System Improvement ­ "Consultative Body" - to be defined in accordance with the further developments and needs of the Education Reform Implementation Initiative, will be proposed to the TF for endorsement.

3. ENVISAGED ACTIVITIES

The TFEY plans the following activities for the second half of 2003 contributing to the two main strategic objectives mentioned before:

1. SEE Education Reform Implementation Initiative

   • Second Working Meeting of the Senior Officials from Southeast Europe

     The meeting will take place from 29 to 31 May in Predeal, Romania. The action plan and the Memorandum of Understanding of Ministers of SEE will be finalised, examples of best practices in the region will be compared and the terms of references for a regional co-ordination office in SEE will be discussed and further elaborated.

   • The seventh conference of European Ministers of Education in Nicosia, June 2003

     On this occasion Education Ministers of SEE countries will sign the Memorandum of Understanding and officially endorse the SEE Education Reform Implementation Initiative.

   • Third Working Meeting of the Senior Officials from Southeast Europe, autumn 2003

     It will serve as a high-level forum to develop a work profile, identify legal and financial requirements for the co-ordination office and to develop lobbying strategies for donor support.

2. Meeting of the Task Force

   The focus of the Task Force meeting on June 16, 2003 in Belgrade will lie on the Meeting of the Senior Officials and on recent developments of the SEE Education Reform Implementation Initiative. Furthermore the future structure and working mechanisms of the Task Force as well as recent developments within the Stability Pact will be discussed.

3. Meeting of the Consultative Body

   This new body will be based on the WG Policy Development and System Improvement and will include representatives of WG Co-ordinating and other institutions. Membership and role will be defined in accordance with the needs of the SEE Education Reform Implementation Initiative.

4. Strategy 2001
   • Regional capacity building seminar on decentralization (autumn 2003)
   • OECD Thematic Review launching conferences in Romania (May 2003), FYRoM (June 2003), Moldova (autumn 2003), Albania (tbc), Bosnia and Herzegovina (tbc), Bulgaria (tbc)

5. Mobility programmes

   Continued lobbying for the inclusion of SEE into existing European mobility programmes, e.g. Socrates and into the envisaged wider European Area of Education