Onderwijsraad bijeengekomen in Gdansk (en)
‘Issues addressed during our meeting are compatible with the priority of Polish Presidency in the field of education, which is education for mobility’, said Minister of National Education Katarzyna Hall on the opening of the conference of the EU ministers in charge of compulsory education, which was held today (October 11th) in Gdansk. Aside from the ministers, also representatives of the European Commission, with Jan Truszczynski, Director-General for Education of Culture, attended the conference.
During debates chaired by Minister Katarzyna Hall, participants discussed the role and importance of language competences in the perspective of lifelong learning and future employment.
Minister Katarzyna Hall stressed that the Polish Presidency, as part of education for mobility priority adopted in the field of education, supports works related to language competences, which are an important condition of educational and professional mobility. These competences must be developed already from the earliest stage of education, as knowledge of languages is not only the key factor of economic growth and competitiveness, but also of increasing personal mobility aimed at taking up learning or work.
A large part of the session was also dedicated to the exchange of experience and examples of domestic solutions - the subject of discussion was the education system diversity leading to acquisition of the best achievements in gaining knowledge, skills and competences. The ministers acquainted themselves with a document prepared by the European Commission, presenting the status of works for improvement of basic literacy, and also with domestic experiences related to the implemented policies, which were presented by ministers of education from the Netherlands and Portugal. It was stressed during discussion that the education system should respond to the needs of students having diversified possibilities and expectations.
‘I hope that the results of our discussions will contribute significantly to the debate on the new generation of EU programmes on the European forum. I am convinced that common discussions will strengthen our cooperation at the European level in the future’, said Minister Katarzyna Hall.
The conference of EU ministers for compulsory education in Gdansk was also an occasion to tighten bilateral cooperation. In the course of the conference, a declaration on cooperation for development of Polish language teaching in Spain and Spanish language teaching in the Republic of Poland was signed.