Council Conclusions of 24 May 2005 on new indicators in education and training
Date: 2005-05-24
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: data collection, education statistics, language teaching, vocational training

10.6.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 141/7

COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS

of 24 May 2005

on new indicators in education and training

(2005/C 141/04)

THE COUNCIL,

Having regard to:

1.

2.

3.

4.

the new strategic goal set for the European Union by the
Lisbon European Council of 23-24 March 2000 and reaf-
firmed by the Stockholm European Council of 23 and 24
March 2001,
‘to become the most competitive and
dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable
of sustainable economic growth, with more and better jobs
and greater social cohesion’;

the conclusions of the Spring 2005 European Council,
which underline that
is Europe's most
important asset’ (1);

‘human capital

8.

level and quality of employment. Hence,

the Lisbon European Council's affirmation that Europe's
education and training systems need to adapt both to the
demands of the knowledge society and to the need for a
the
higher
mandate from the Lisbon European Council to the Educa-
tion Council ‘to undertake a general reflection on concrete
future objectives of
focusing on
common concerns and priorities while respecting national
diversity with a view to contributing to the Luxembourg
and Cardiff processes’ (2);

education systems,

the Barcelona European Council Conclusions of 15-16
March 2002 (3), which endorsed the work programme (4),
including an indicative list of indicators to be used to
measure progress towards the implementation of the thir-
teen concrete objectives through the Open Method of
Coordination, with the aim for European education and
training systems of becoming ‘a world reference for quality
by 2010’, and which called for the establishment of a
linguistic competence indicator;

5.

the reaffirmation of the central role of indicators and the
five reference levels in giving directions and measuring
progress in the field of education and training towards the
Lisbon goals (5);

(1) Doc 7619/05, paragraph 34.
(2) Doc. SN 100/1/00 REV 1, paragraph 27.
(3) SN 100/1/02 REV 1.
(4) ‘Detailed work programme for the follow-up of the report on the
concrete objectives of education and training systems’ adopted by
the Education Council on 14 February 2002.

(5) Council Conclusions on benchmark adopted on 5 May 2003.

6.

Interim Report of February 2004, (6) which
the Joint
underlined the need to improve the quality and compar-
ability of existing indicators, particularly in the field of life-
long learning, and its request that the Standing Group on
Indicators and Benchmarks and all existing Working
Groups propose, by the end of 2004, a limited list of new
indicators for development;

7.

the Commission's preliminary response to this request,
outlining possible short, medium and long-term strategies
in nine indicator areas (7);

REAFFIRMS that

periodic monitoring of performance and progress through
the use of indicators and benchmarks is an essential part
the Lisbon process, allowing the identification of
of
strengths and weaknesses with a view to providing stra-
tegic guidance and steering for both short and long term
measures of the Education and Training 2010 strategy;

RECOGNISES that

9.

it is desirable to develop a coherent framework of indica-
tors and benchmarks to monitor performance and progress
in the field of education and training;

10. the development of the necessary data for new indicators
can be a long-term project, at times lasting 5-10 years;

11. enhanced cooperation in education and training could be
used for the establishment of a coherent indicator frame-
work supported by appropriate data sources, going beyond
the 2010 Lisbon horizon;

12. the establishment of the ‘research unit on lifelong learning’
at the Joint Research Centre at ISPRA can significantly
increase the Commission's research capacity in terms of
the development of new indicators;

(6) ‘Education and training 2010’ — The Success of the Lisbon Strategy
Hinges on Urgent Reforms, adopted jointly by the Council and the
Commission on 26 February 2004.

(7) Staff Working Paper from the Commission,
Education and Training’ (SEC(2004), 1524).

‘New Indicators on

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Official Journal of the European Union

10.6.2005

STRESSES that

13. full use should be made of existing data and indicators
while further efforts should be made to improve their
comparability, relevance and timeliness;

14. the development of new indicators shall fully respect the
responsibility of Member States for the organisation of
their education systems and should not
impose undue
administrative or financial burdens on the organisation
and institutions concerned, nor
inevitably lead to an
increased number of indicators used to monitor progress;

15. there is a need to continue to enhance cooperation with
other international organisations active in this field (e.g.
OECD, Unesco,
IEA), particularly in order to improve
international data coherence.

INVITES the Commission

16. with regard to indicator areas where data collections
already exist or EU surveys are planned, to further develop
and submit to the Council strategies in the indicator areas
of efficiency of investment, ICT, mobility, adult education,
teachers and trainers, vocational education and training,
social inclusion and active citizenship;

17. with regard to indicator areas where no comparable data
exist, to present to the Council detailed survey proposals
for the development of new indicators, in the areas of:

— learning-to-learn;

— language skills;

and in any other area where new surveys might become
relevant;

(e.g. OECD, Unesco,

18. with regard to indicator areas where international organi-
sations
IEA) are planning new
surveys, to cooperate with international organisations in
order to satisfy the information needs of the EU in indi-
cator areas such as ICT, adult skills and professional devel-
opment of teachers, where other international organisa-

tions are already discussing the possibility of carrying out
surveys;

19. when developing such strategies and new instruments for
data collection, including in cooperation with international
organisations to:

— where necessary analyse their political relevance also
considering the relation between the development of
human capital and integrated education work policies;

— present

a detailed technical

specification of

the

proposed new surveys;

— include a timetable for the development work to be

undertaken;

— include an estimate of the likely costs and necessary
infrastructure for such developmental works and subse-
quent data collection in the Member States involved
and for the Commission;

— specify appropriate management structures, enabling
Member States to be involved in methodological and
development work, and to be in a position to take the
necessary decisions, ensuring the development of rele-
vant and high quality data,
in accordance with the
timetable;

20. with a view to reporting back to the Council, no later than

the end of 2006, to:

— take stock of initiatives taken in other survey areas,
including the impact of ICT on teaching and learning,
the labour market outcomes of mobility, and the social
background of tertiary students;

— assess progress made towards the establishment of a
coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks for
following-up on the Lisbon objectives in the area of
education and training, including a reconsideration of
the suitability of existing indicators used for moni-
toring progress.