Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European cooperation in quality evaluation in school education'
Date: 2000-04-27
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: European cooperation, education, level of education

C 168/30

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Official Journal of the European Communities

16.6.2000

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Recommendation of the
European Parliament and of the Council on European cooperation in quality evaluation in school
education’

(2000/C 168/09)

On 29 February 2000, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Articles
149 and 150 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 11 April 2000. The rapporteur was Mr Rupp.

At its 372nd plenary session (meeting of 27 April 2000) the Economic and Social Committee adopted
the following opinion by 108 votes to one with four abstentions.

1.

Introduction

2. General comments

1.1.
The European pilot project on quality evaluation in
school education was launched at the start of the 1997 school
year and formally ended with a final conference in Vienna in
November 1998.

2.1. The importance of high standards in education

101 secondary schools in 18 countries took part in the
project (the EU Member States plus Norway, Iceland and
Liechtenstein).

There is no doubt that quality of education is a key indicator
both of the maturity and independence of each individual
member of society, and of the social and economic effective-
ness of that society itself.

The number of schools selected in each country was roughly
in proportion to country size. Large countries each had nine
schools in the project, medium-sized countries five and small
countries two. The schools were selected by a national
committee.

The European Commission (education, training and youth) has
submitted a report in several parts on the implementation of
the project entitled:

Quality evaluation in school education:

— Guide for the participating schools

Since the emergence of the modern state, the quality of
education and cognitive and social skills (both individually and
as a whole) have been the mainstay of a country’s social fabric,
prosperity and democracy.

‘Knowledge itself is power!’ — this tenet of performance-based
civil society organisations and associations is more true now
than ever before, although it should be noted that, in this
context, education does not mean accumulating knowledge,
but channelling knowledge to practical use.

— Practical guide to self-evaluation

2.1.1. E d u c a t i o n a n d g l o b a l i s a t i o n

— Interim report

— Final report.

1.1.1.

In particular, the final report

— presents the project;

— describes the approaches adopted by the schools;

— evaluates the work of the schools;

— outlines monitoring at national level;

— considers the conditions of success of the pilot project;

— and sets out the prospects for the participating schools.

The development of society and individual liberties makes it
essential to ensure high standards of education to match the
dynamic changes in industry, the job market, science, research
and technology, politics and government administration. The
aim must thereby be to promote and secure employability and
to launch the process of lifelong learning. This is not only a
matter for public education systems, but must also involve the
family, non-school education providers and industry. However,
the fact that the state is responsible for education makes it
primarily a task for schools.

As globalisation advances apace, this can no longer hold good
only for individual countries, but requires joint and above all
coordinated action to ensure high standards of education and
thus make major strides in fostering people’s cross-border
mobility and in the transfer of education.

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2.1.2. A s e t o f E u r o p e a n e d u c a t i o n a l n o r m s

2.1.5. A c c e p t a b i l i t y b y t h o s e c o n c e r n e d

Assessing education and monitoring standards involves pro-
bing the content, scope, objectives and norms of education
itself. In the final analysis — and with all due respect for
national and cultural characteristics and individual countries’
sovereignty — the EU too must seek to establish a set of
European educational norms, along the lines of a European
core curriculum, which provides the same guaranteed stan-
dards and level of quality assessment in all countries.

A common core curriculum underpinned by the highest
possible educational standards not only creates an environ-
ment conducive to mobility and prosperity, but also ensures
comparability of performance and thus equality of opportunity
for individual citizens. Thus, it is set to become a cornerstone
of democracy and the welfare state in Europe.

2.1.3. P e r f o r m a n c e - l e d q u a l i t y

The quality of education relates to performance and thus
performance review and performance control. Quality has to
be measured against yardsticks and standards which have
developed culturally and are laid down in curricula. For
schools, quality assessment is nothing new; on the contrary,
learning processes — and hence educational results — have
continually been subject to performance review.

The success of any action to evaluate the quality of school
education and training depends on the backing for such action
by those concerned. In this context, that does not mean those
responsible for schools at a political level (who make frequent
reference to individual countries’ cultural and thus educational
independence), but rather those actually involved in teaching
and learning — together with their organisations and trade
unions — as well as families and local communities in schools’
catchment areas. All of them need the requisite environment
and broader scope for action in order to achieve and assess
high standards of education.

Schemes designed to secure high standards and quality assess-
ment in education will founder if they seek — solely on the
basis of economic efficiency and without increasing resources
— to boost performance while at the same time forcing
individual schools to deal with the shortfall through structural
changes under the banner of decentralisation. Educational
establishments such as schools are not comparable with
businesses any more than learning is comparable with indus-
trial production processes.

High standards of European education are without doubt a
key element in the future viability of the Community; as the
explanatory memorandum to the recommendations rightly
states, safeguarding these standards is a priority.

The novelty is, first of all, that educational standards — and
the assessment thereof — are to be underpinned internationally
across different school systems, thus making it possible to
compare quality on a broad scale. Secondly,
this is to
take place against the backdrop of enhanced autonomy for
individual schools,
in other words in a decentralised edu-
cational environment.

Hence, the recommendation is to be supported — both in
principle and on most points of detail. Since the principle of
voluntary cooperation and adaptation applies, it remains up
to individual countries to decide whether they have the will to
give their young people equality of opportunity across Europe
and whether they are prepared to make the requisite financial
resources available for that purpose. This is essential to secure
Europe’s position in the world.

2.1.4. D e c e n t r a l i s i n g

t h e w a y

s c h o o l s

a r e

r u n

External and internal evaluation are useful tools on this front.
In addition, a new balance is being established between
central control and decision-making powers decentralised
downstream — ultimately to schools themselves. Benchmarks
hold this system together. They are designed to secure
comparable and — depending on the level of schooling —
uniform standards in the quality of school education and thus
the qualifications awarded by schools.

In this process, schools need lasting support. Various com-
pensatory measures are required to enable schools to join a
quality assurance scheme of this kind. Such support must be
provided within the education sector and also — above all —
through government budgetary policy. Adequate resources
remain essential to high standards in education. The European
Parliament and the Council should therefore press home this
fact to the Member States.

2.2. Background to the current proposal for a recommendation

2.2.1.
Securing high standards of education in schools is
deemed to be a priority — hence the need to up the importance
of education policy within the EU as a whole. We would
endorse this view. The recommendation currently on the table
could further that objective.

It is of course every teacher’s priority to ensure high standards
of instruction; however, the requisite resources must also be
made available (see above).

The European pilot project on quality evaluation in school
education can be regarded as a success. A key element in that
success is the fact that the pilot project also put forward
practical proposals for evaluation. It is thus a workable base
on which to build a wider quality assurance scheme.

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The European contribution to educational standards
2.2.2.
in the Community is compensatory in nature;
it aims to
support and supplement national education systems in specific
ways so as to promote the development of a Europe-
wide educational standard. That does not mean harmonising
education, but rather fostering equal educational opportunities
in the Community.

As the draft paper too points out, educational standards are
not thereby set from the ‘top down’. Rather, educational
quality is a dynamic variable of social development which is
influenced by other policy areas. This applies particularly to
financing.

High standards of education cannot therefore be secured
without adequate resources. On the contrary, lack of resources
overburdens the players involved and the system itself; particu-
larly in the light of increasing decentralisation, this undermines
the acceptability of quality assessment schemes.

2.2.3. With regard to the school system, it should be noted
that decentralisation and more direct responsibility offer a
crucial educational opportunity to raise standards and boost
efficiency.

This holds good provided the principle is applied that, by
introducing more scope for decentralised, independent action,
educational and school-related decisions are taken at the level
at which they are to be implemented. In a democratic state,
parliament naturally retains the right to scrutinise key decisions
affecting the system as a whole. However, decentralisation is
only beneficial where it does not result in the lower levels of
the education system being compelled to manage short-
comings which they themselves are not in a position to resolve.
This applies in particular to the provision of instruction, school
equipment and the availability of teaching staff.

2.2.4.
External and internal evaluation are the main tools
of quality assessment. Of the two, priority must be given to
internal evaluation, not least for reasons of decentralisation
but also in line with the principle of democracy. This order of
priorities does not detract from the value of external evaluation.
However, any relevant EU scheme should focus on internal
evaluation.

This means giving individual schools practical tools to assess
and raise educational standards themselves. To this end,
various incentives should be worked out in cooperation with
the Member States in order to make the schemes acceptable
enough so that all the relevant players are involved.

2.2.5.
Compiling and keeping archive records of quality
indicators and benchmarks can provide important support for
the quality assessment of
individual schools, since these
provide a touchstone for comparison and an overview to back
up internal evaluation. The establishment of an appropriate
database, which is accessible to schools (educational servers),

must therefore be an integral part of the European educational
quality assurance scheme.

3. Specific comments

3.1. Basic points concerning the explanatory memorandum to the

recommendation

3.1.1. More resources have indeed been devoted to edu-
cation in the countries concerned. In terms of the status of
education, however, the absolute level of resources fails to give
the full picture. Education spending must be considered in
relation to gross domestic product. An improvement on this
front alone indicates a genuine rise in education resources.

There is a direct link between education and employment.
Better education also boosts people’s chances of finding a job.
However, education does not lead directly to employment. It
can undoubtedly go a considerable way towards helping
resolve difficulties in employment and social policy, but it is
not in itself the solution. The capacity of education to resolve
the problems of society as a whole must not be overrated.

Specific mention should be made here of the concept of
‘lifelong learning’: one period of training is no longer enough
to cover people’s entire working lives; ongoing and further
training is required and the proper conditions need to be
established for this.

3.1.2.
Any action to secure high standards in education
must provide specific, targeted support for (i) children and
young people suffering from or at risk of disability and from
disadvantaged social backgrounds and (ii) school drop-outs. It
must be remembered here that, over the past few years, school
drop-out rates have proved extremely resistant to a variety of
educational support schemes. More action is needed —
particularly additional measures at all levels of social policy —
to help those concerned gain an adequate education and/or
leave school with a qualification.

Given the growth in information technologies and current
communications standards in industry, connecting schools to
the Internet and providing (economic) support to facilitate
pupil access are actually essential elements in boosting stan-
dards of education and fostering educational interchange.

3.1.3.
It is emphatically underlined that raising educational
standards means not only maximising knowledge, but also
expanding social and emotional skills.

Any action taken under this recommendation can
3.1.4.
build on the successful 1997/1998 pilot project on quality
evaluation in school education.

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3.2. Basic points concerning the individual recommendations

Educational standards in schools must be maintained
3.2.1.
through transparent quality schemes and developed into a set
of European educational norms. The aim is not only to provide
training and vocational qualifications, but above all to improve
people’s way of life in terms of democratic involvement in
civil society organisations and associations.

3.2.2.
The number of schools able to learn from internal
evaluation must be increased by a focused scheme comprising
a variety of incentives designed to ensure that as ‘good’ schools
carry on getting better, ‘bad’ schools do not carry on getting
worse.
Incentives for teachers, for instance, must include
opportunities for promotion, advancement and further train-
ing. In turn, teachers must also offer their students incentives
to perform well.

cators are a key foundation and reference framework for
evaluation. The same is also true of point 2 (b) of the proposal
for a European Parliament and Council recommendation.

3.2.4.
In the drive for success, it is essential to actively
involve all players concerned; they must have an input at every
stage of the assessment process.

3.2.5.
Training courses on the methodology and appli-
cation of self-evaluation of educational practice in schools
should also include the mutual exchange of teachers and
instructors who have a proven track record in this field. Such
courses may be used both in initial teacher training and in
external and in-house further teacher training as well.

3.2.6.
Cooperation with the appropriate authorities must
continually refer back to educational practice in schools and
the teaching staff involved ‘on the ground’ in quality assurance.

3.2.3.
External evaluation must be carried out by specialised
bodies using yardsticks which apply specifically to schools. A
simple input-output method based on economic efficiency is
inappropriate to quality control. The EU’s educational indi-

3.2.7.
In addition to the appropriate authorities, advances
in expertise in this field in Europe must be made available to
schools without delay, for example as part of the planned
database.

Brussels, 27 April 2000.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Beatrice RANGONI MACHIAVELLI