30.6.2007   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 146/77

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notes that exclusion from the educational system is the first step towards marginalisation followed by exclusion from the employment system and from cultural, social and civic life. It reiterates the importance of combating school drop outs which have negative effects on competitiveness and cohesion;

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recognises that in the long run pre-primary education and targeted early intervention programmes bring the highest rates of return over the whole lifelong learning process, especially for the most disadvantaged and recalls in this respect the necessity of the cross-sectoral approach in which key responsibilities are held by local and regional authorities;

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agrees that modernisation of higher education is a crucial factor in the rapidly evolving knowledge society. Higher education institutions are at the heart of the ‘knowledge triangle’ given their interlinked roles of education, research and innovation. Local and regional authorities play a key role in channelling funding towards the modernisation of higher education systems;

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expresses support for the double objective of improving transparency of qualifications while promoting increased mobility in the EU, but insists that qualifications frameworks should continue to be developed at national and regional level. Responsibility for reform must therefore remain in the hands of the competent authorities within the Member States.

1.1

thanks the Commission for this contribution to the debate on the reform of education and vocational training systems, and agrees with the Commission that responsibility for this reform must remain in the hands of the competent authorities within the Member States;

1.2

agrees that investments in education and training take time to bear fruit and therefore when deciding on funding priorities, governments should allow for long-term planning at local, regional and national levels. In fact, several proposals set out in the Communication may have budgetary implications at regional and local level;

1.3

acknowledges the importance of long-term planning but stresses the need to include local and regional authorities in devising and implementing any lifelong learning strategies;

1.4

agrees with the need for a culture of evaluation within education and training systems but stresses the importance of fostering awareness of the efficient use of resources (2), draws attention to the fact that lifting the financial obstacles to access to early age education are an important but not sufficient policy measure. As pre-primary education in most countries is not part of compulsory education, parents send their children to pre-primary education on a voluntary basis;

1.5

considers that targeted policy measures should seek not only increased enrolment of children at pre-school age but also incentives and supporting parent-oriented measures to encourage regular attendance in pre-primary education, especially for children from a disadvantaged social background or who live in upland, rural or sparsely populated areas;

1.6

stresses that effective early childhood education requires well-trained pedagogical staff and therefore calls for increased effort on the level of teacher training;

1.7

encourages in this respect the promotion of exchanges of best practice and of cross-border networks between localities and regions in improving evaluation and promoting quality assurance;

1.8

notes that exclusion from the educational system is the first step towards marginalisation followed by exclusion from the employment system and by extension from cultural, social and civic life. In this respect, it reiterates  (3) the importance of combating school dropouts which have negative effects on competitiveness and cohesion (4);

1.9

welcomes the focus of the Communication on evidence-based policy planning using solid research results as a reference.

1.10

recognises that research evidence, including from the important work undertaken by the OECD in this field, has shown that in the long run pre-primary education and targeted early intervention programmes bring the highest rates of return over the whole lifelong learning process, especially for the most disadvantaged;

1.11

recalls, however, the necessity of the cross-sectoral approach in which key responsibilities are held by local and regional authorities and regrets the absence of their recognition in the Communication.

1.12

acknowledges that EU Member States and competent regions have different education systems with different approaches; however agrees that an early differentiation of pupils according to ability at an early age can condition their future career and life paths;

1.13

supports inclusive lifelong learning opportunities for all recognising the right to go to school and participate in education schemes;

1.14

suggests that postponing tracking until upper secondary level, combined with the possibility to transfer between school types can be one of the instruments to reduce segregation and promote equity without diminishing efficiency and can also help develop the natural potential and abilities of each pupil;

1.15

has consistently called for measures for pupils with special needs to be supported, as early on as possible in the system. It stresses the importance of arresting marginalisation at primary school level and underlines the value of exchanging experience in this area; it underlines the need for universally challenging learning and for schools that can stimulate all pupils. This applies equally to those with a more difficult background and to the more advanced;

1.16

draws particular attention to the needs of the immigrant population, who often have problems integrating into the education system. This may be due to gaps in the education they received in their countries of origin, or to an insufficient knowledge of the language of the host country. In order to ensure that immigrants receive proper treatment, specific training of teaching staff is also necessary;

1.17

is of the opinion that the motivation, skills competences and salaries of teachers and trainers, the availability of guidance services and infrastructure factors like appropriate teaching group sizes are important contributory factors in achieving high quality learning outcomes;

1.18

regards as important the development of a caring learning environment which boosts individual motivation, the effort to learn and confidence to achieve. It also underlines the need to ensure the involvement of parents in the education process noting that students with weak home and peer support are at greater risk of social exclusion;

1.19

stresses that the measures adopted to secure greater equity and improve the way in which the needs of particular groups are met should remain consistent with the effort to improve the efficiency or quality of the education system; these should involve mechanisms to help the learning process to keep the appropriate speed;

1.20

highlights the need to strike a balance in education systems between basic general training and the possibilities for specialisation. This general knowledge base should always include European culture and history. Moreover, the different education and training systems should devote sufficient attention to key competences for lifelong learning, as defined and adopted in the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on key competences for lifelong learning.

1.21

agrees that modernisation of higher education is a crucial factor in the rapidly evolving knowledge society. Higher education institutions are an essential element of the ‘knowledge triangle’ of education, research and innovation given their interlinked roles;

1.22

points out therefore that higher education institutions should open themselves up more to new groups of learners, to emphasise lifelong learning and to offer wider access to academic education, as essential conditions for meeting demographic and structural changes over the next few decades;

1.23

recognises, however, that the growth in student numbers and increasing costs of high-quality education and research need to be matched by increased public and, where appropriate, private funding. Local and regional authorities play a key role in channelling funding towards the modernisation of higher education systems, especially through targeted use of European structural funds;

1.24

recalls that access to higher education must be as inclusive as possible, not only in order to secure the future of a Europe of knowledge, but also to serve as a basis for the social cohesion of Europe as a whole. Reaffirms the broad mission of higher education encompassing its contribution to personal fulfilment and democratic citizenship as well as its role in revitalising cultural heritage (5);

1.25

notes that the Communication focuses on the issue of tuition as a means to enhance funding and to stimulate a responsive attitude of students and families towards higher education achievement. Tuition should not become a factor for exclusion on the basis of financial resources. Nevertheless, it stresses that tuition is never an isolated issue but, on the contrary, is always embedded in the larger context of a variety of factors related to financial incentives or obstacles to participation in higher education. It therefore calls for a broader, context-related approach, taking into account national, regional and local particularities of the funding and tax systems, rather than focussing on the issue of tuition only.

1.26

agrees with the European Commission that as our population ages, the persistently high level of youth unemployment in the EU is unacceptable, in view of the increased demand for a highly qualified workforce;

1.27

calls for vocational education and training systems to be recognised and promoted in countries where they are underdeveloped, so that they meet the requirements of the many young people seeking reliable access to the labour market, and the needs of the labour market itself;

1.28

supports the Commission's proposal for clear and diverse pathways through vocational education and training to further learning and employment and welcomes the specific reference to involving the local and regional level in encouraging stakeholder partnerships to enhance the quality and relevance of public training programmes for the unemployed and disadvantaged learners;

1.29

points out that training of teachers and trainers should be updated in order to serve the needs of an increasingly mature learners' public. Specific pedagogical methods and material need to be developed while paying attention to flexible modes of delivery adapted to learners combining their training with professional and family duties. In this context educational and training policies will interfere with social policy issues where local and regional authorities can play a catalyst role;

1.30

stresses the need for generalised application of structured mechanisms for the validation of prior learning, especially for knowledge and competences acquired outside the formal education system. This validation should serve a double purpose: facilitating employability/social inclusion and providing access to further learning on the basis of prior learning experiences;

1.31

welcomes in this respect the European Commission's communication on ‘Adult learning: It is never too late to learn’ and agrees that in the light of the demographic change in Europe, more emphasis should be placed on the education of adults, with well-targeted, efficient investments;

1.32

points out, in this respect, that in many European countries the regional and local level has key responsibilities in the field of adult education and it has a direct interest in the development of workforce skills. It therefore calls for the local and regional level to be involved more closely in actions concerning the education of adults at EU level.

2.1

appreciates the need for a specific European framework for learning qualifications complementing arrangements for professional qualifications, not least because a EQF for lifelong learning will make the transition between the different education and training paths more transparent and visible. Nevertheless, learning qualifications play an important role in the transition from learning environment to working life and can therefore not be disconnected from issues of preparation for the labour market;

2.2

draws the Commission's attention to the need to carry out a systematic analysis of the impact of its legislative proposals at local and regional level, in particular for fields such as education and vocational training, for which the regional and local authorities are responsible in several Member States. This impact analysis should be published online in full and in all the official languages of the Union;

2.3

welcomes the Commission's Framework of Qualifications, and supports its double objective of improving transparency of qualifications and promoting mobility in the European Union; stresses, however, that the EQF in itself does not deliver qualifications but that qualifications frameworks are developed at the national/regional level. Local and regional competent authorities are therefore to be involved in the exercise of linking up national/regional qualifications frameworks to the EQF;

2.4

agrees with the Commission that national and European qualifications frameworks will facilitate the validation of learning in all contexts. It welcomes this inclusive approach as it recalls the need for the recognition of formal, non-formal and informal education in lifelong learning and agrees that this is of particular importance for promoting equal opportunities by recognising the key competences and skills of the least advantaged (6);

2.5

considers the EQF to be a useful tool for increasing mutual trust between national and regional education systems in Europe which will contribute to mobility, competitiveness and employment, encouraging the exchange of knowledge and competences across the EU;

2.6

however, calls on the Commission to clarify the relationship between qualifications levels, Directive 2000/36/EC and the provisions for the certification of formal and informal learning, which already exist or are currently being established at national and regional level (7);

2.7

notwithstanding the broader perspective of lifelong learning strategies encompassing the objectives of social inclusion and employability as well as personal fulfilment, welcomes the output-oriented approach of the Commission to learning outcomes, i.e. the description of qualifications in terms of knowledge and competence;

2.8

considers that qualifications should be comparable independent of learning context and provider. The learning outcomes approach makes it easier to compare qualifications across different countries and education and training systems, facilitating the role of local and regional educational authorities in the EU;

2.9

moreover, learning outcomes and descriptors can function as reference points for quality assurance, thus enhancing European cooperation in quality assurance and mutual recognition of evaluation decisions; welcomes therefore the explicit link in the recommendation between the EQF as a transparency tool and the general principles on quality assurance, as these quality assurance principles can play an important role in creating mutual trust as a basis for international recognition of qualifications;

2.10

calls for the promotion of a framework for cooperation and dissemination of best practice in order to establish a real exchange of experience on a continuous basis. This would enable the positive developments taking place within the Member States in particular at local and regional level to be capitalised on. It therefore recommends the promotion of more Europe-wide networks disseminating best practice in promoting access to training in particular through local and regional partnerships;

2.11

emphasises that the EQF should respect the diversity and strengths of regions and localities in the EU. As a reading grid or translation device, the EQF will not replace but complement national and regional qualifications frameworks;

2.12

believes that applying the EQF will almost certainly lead to further actions at Community level and stresses that, in this case, an in-depth subsidiarity and proportionality analysis must be carried out on these subsequent actions;

2.13

calls for clear descriptors to be used and a clear coordination between existing regional qualifications frameworks and the EQF.