Lidstaten willen voortijdig schoolverlaten terugdringen (en)

At the 20 May 2011meeting in Brussels, education ministers reached a political agreement to reduce the number of early school leavers. Rózsa Hoffmann, Minister of State for Education of the Ministry of National Resources, told the press conference that the reduction of early school leavers is vital for implementing several major objectives, which are defined in the Europe 2020 Strategy.

Commissioner for Education, Androulla Vassiliou welcomes the Council’s decision at the follow-up press conference. “You should be aware that one in ten children leaves school without proper education, so the objective is to reduce this ratio by ten per cent by 2020,” the Commissioner said, reminding others of the ambitious objective set of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The adopted recommendation highlights the need for geathering more information on student groups, which are threatened by early school leaving and for implementing the strategies aimed to reduce early school leavers as soon as possible, in order to fulfil these objectives. Minister of State for Education, Rózsa Hoffmann stressed at the press conference mentioning that prevention and intervention should both be in focus.

To prevent early school leavers

After the adoption of the recommendation, ministers held a policy debate, in which the issue of early school leavers was associated with the drop-out of socio-economically disadvantaged students, including Roma students. Ms Hoffmann reminded that just one day earlier, in the morning of 19 May, the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO), adopted Council conclusions on the Union framework of national strategies, which was aimed at Roma integration. In this spirit, ministers of education discussed the next possible steps to improve the perspectives of educating Roma children.

Reducing the ratio of early school leavers is highly dependent on promoting the school success of disadvantaged students, Ms Hoffmann stressed at the press conference. Androulla Vassiliou also considered the debate, which was initiated by the Presidency as extremely important, and took a stand for equal opportunities for Roma children. “The aim is to grant them access to quality education, free of segregation and discrimination”, Ms Vassiliou underlined.

Learning mobility

The Council reached a political agreement on a recommendation for the promotion of learning mobility. As part of the Youth on the Move, which is an initiative of the European Commission, the document may contribute to accomplishing the Union’s educational objectives until 2020. According to Ms Hoffmann, it was time to review some elements of the European cooperation, that supports the learning of young people abroad. The Minister of State stressed, “learning mobility is one of the most important tools to assist young people in exploiting their potential, obtaining proper qualifications, being better informed and proactive, developing their creativity and active citizenship, as well as to improve their chances in the labour market.”

Androulla Vassiliou welcomed Member States to be ready to remove obstacles regarding mobility. “Young people need more information, scholarships, loans and recognition of their qualifications, which are obtained abroad”, stressed the Commission’s representative.

The importance of early childhood education

During the meeting, the Council also adopted conclusions on early childhood education and care. The purpose of the conclusions was to initiate and to strengthen the cooperation at European level. According to Rózsa Hoffmann, the document emphasises the importance of accessible, high-quality early childhood education and care, “which lays the foundation for the essential basic skills for social integration, personal development and employability.”

The Minister of State made special mention of the importance of high-quality early childhood care and education for socio-economically disadvantaged children with a migrant or Roma background, and for children with special educational needs. “Supporting cognitive, linguistic, social and emotional development in early childhood, can help them break out of the vicious circle caused by a disadvantaged social position”, Ms Hoffmann added.

Presidency briefing

At the end of the Council’s meeting, Rózsa Hoffmann briefly updated the Ministers on the Hungarian Presidency’s training and education events, firstly the meeting devoted to active citizenship education. “We agreed that active citizenship education is a priority for the future of European democracies,” Ms Hoffmann said at the press briefing, then added that the crisis focused attention on education for financial awareness and the importance of the development of entrepreneurial skills.

At the end of the meeting the Minister of State also said that Hungary proposed at the conference “Talent Support in the European Union” held in Budapest, to declare 25 March, the birthday of the world famous composer Béla Bartók, as the European Day of Talent Support. Another proposal made at the conference was to establish a European Talent Centre in Budapest.