E conomic pressure and the universal duty to be successful The increasingly important role played by knowledge and skills, as well as innovation and research, in economic growth and development, the emergence of the information society, and the need for lifelong education are all resulting in increased social pressure on the education system and teachers in particular. Raising education standards continuously and ensuring universal access to a recognised professional or vocational qualification, i.e. to a quality certificate or diploma, have become social imperatives. Unemployment and exclusion threaten, first and foremost, those who have not acquired a sufficient level of basic education and who therefore cannot easily access quality further education. For their part, teachers are required to provide a zero error service. Schools are expected to protect students against unemployment and exclusion, to lead to useful qualifications, social integration and jobs.
Schools play an increasingly important role in the distribution of roles within society.
The wish to improve one's social status and the fear of marginalisation increase the pressure to achieve. Academic achievement and social success are closely interlinked. Teachers and educators must take on a broader range of responsibilities and competencies to meet these requirements and, consequently, their job becomes more difficult. It is not easy to establish where the tasks of the school end or to draw a line delimiting the responsibilities of teachers and other education workers. But, at any rate, the training and qualification of teachers and educators must take account of these new roles, particularly through the development of multi-professional teams.