Background
Education and training are not only the key to sustainable
development, peace and stability within and among countries
but also an indispensable means for SEE countries on their
way to be fully integrated in the European Union.
The Task Force Education and Youth therefore proposed an
initiative offering a high level forum for the exchange of
information and expertise on education policy reform in a
European context. The idea was to help create a full picture
of the needs of SEE countries, support their ongoing education
reform efforts and in this way accelerate the progress towards
European standards and trends.
Furthermore, the initiative will provide access to expertise
in education reform of European countries and also facilitate
capacity building which will support SEE countries to achieve
common European standards in education as outlined in the
EU ”Detailed Work Programme on the follow-up of the objectives
of education and training systems in Europe”, adopted at the
meeting of the EU Council in March 2002.
The long-lasting commitment to the European trends and standards
will give the opportunity to take into account country specific
needs in the field of education. It demands a flexible approach,
which allows each country to move ahead at its own but still
determined pace towards Europe.
Participants:
Over 40 key policy-makers from South Eastern Europe and other
European countries as well as representatives of different
international organisations operating in the education sector:
Senior Officials of Education Ministries from SEE countries
including Bulgaria and Romania, European Commission, EU current
and future Presidencies (Denmark, Greece and Italy), Candidate
Countries (Hungary, Slovak Republic), Stability Pact, OECD,
Austria plus observers from the Council of Europe, the European
University Association, the Open Society Institute, World
Bank, Norway and Switzerland. (c.f. attached participants´
list).
Conclusions of the meeting and envisaged next steps
This meeting provided a unique opportunity to present the
EU ”Detailed Work Programme on the Follow-up of the Objectives
of Education and Training Systems” and in this framework deepen
discussions on country-specific reform needs in SEE, explore
possibilities for co-operation and further elaboration of
the proposed initiative.
In the course of the meeting, the representative of the European
Commission gave an in-depth presentation of the EU Work Programme,
which offered participants the opportunity to raise questions
and obtain feedback. Countries of the region reported on their
experience of education reform as well as on the obstacles
faced during its implementation on administrative as well
as on the level of public private partnership. The participants
agreed that lobbying for education is essential not only in
terms of jobs and economic growth, but also for the promotion
of tolerance, democracy and minority rights.
In two working groups participants from SEE countries identified
country-specific priority areas of education development and
reform as well as best practise examples and problems encountered
in the education reform process so far. The two working groups
identified the following priority areas for education development
and reform:
- decentralisation (with a focus on the balance between
autonomy and accountability)
- legislation
- quality assurance
- curriculum reform
- access to quality education (minorities, esp. Roma, rural
areas vs. urban areas etc)
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
- lifelong learning
- VET, especially establishing links between education and
labour market
- Education for Democratic Citizenship
Furthermore the following issues were seen as necessary
for the long-term success of education development and reform
processes:
- fundraising (need to mobilise private sector funds), also
establishing private-public partnerships
- general public acceptance and support for education reform
(> awareness raising)
- enhancing exchange of information between key actors and
institutions within the countries of the region as well
as on regional, European and international level
- capacity building
These priority areas have been taken into account in the
annex to the draft of the Memorandum of Understanding, which
has been discussed and endorsed by the participants of the
meeting. The draft version which takes into account the suggestions
made by participants, will be presented to the respective
Ministers of Education for approval. On invitation of the
upcoming Greek Presidency, it is expected to be signed at
the venue of the seventh conference of European Ministers
of Education to be held in Nicosia in June 2003. This commitment
by the Education Ministers of SEE countries will be a major
step forward both in the implementation of national education
reform and in their free participation in the European Area
of Education.
The participants emphasised the need to ensure complementarity
between the ongoing and envisaged activities at national level
and the EU ”Detailed Work Programme on the Follow-up of the
Objectives of Education and Training Systems”, which is a
key EU education policy instrument, as well as with the ”Bologna
Process”, and the ”Bruges Process”. At the same time participants
stressed the importance of regional ownership and leadership
in this initiative.
There was widespread support for the idea of including SAP
countries in the consultation process with regard to the ”Detailed
Work Programme on the Follow-up of the Objectives of Education
and Training Systems in Europe” so that they can be kept up-to-date
on different implementation instruments and the overall progress
and therefore be able to keep pace with reforms.
The success of the Working Meeting included a very strong
commitment by all participants to continue discussions and
stimulate the process of adaptation of existing national legal
frameworks of education reform in line with the ongoing European
developments and national reform priorities.
It was agreed upon the following future activities:
- Regular meetings of Senior Officials of Ministries of
Education from SEE and other European countries in order
to exchange experiences made in the reform implementation,
to foster support partnerships, to discuss issues of regional
concern and formulate common positions on education reform.
The next working meeting will be held in Romania in March
2003 at the kind invitation of the Romanian Ministry of
Education. On this occasion a detailed action plan will
be finalised on basis of the endorsed “SEE Education reform
Implementation Initiative”.
- Peer review support in the participating SEE countries
drawing on expertise from organisations such as OECD, ETF,
EUA, Council of Europe and others to review achievements
in the respective educational development processes and
provide tailor-made recommendations.
- Capacity building measures in key issues of education
reform
- Review of the feasibility of mapping and setting up a
database of good practice in the region (concrete proposal
will follow from Romania) in the framework of the South
Eastern European Education Co-operation Network.
- Support through existing networks (e.g. the South Eastern
European Education Co-operation Network and its nodes) to
strengthen the dissemination of information on education
development and reform both in South Eastern European countries
and on a wider European level.
- The overall co-ordination of the initiative should be
demand driven and transferred to the region by end of 2003/beginning
of 2004.
The initiative should be flexible according to the individual
pace of implementation of the participating countries. Its
progress will be reviewed by the end of 2004. A final date
for orientation, however, is the year 2010, by when both the
objectives of the EU Work Programme on education and training
systems and the objectives of the Bologna declaration should
be achieved.
RSS feeds
