Draft Conclusions of the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, on efficiency and equity in education and training
Date: 2006-12-08
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Representatives of the Governments of the Member States
Subjects: access to information, continuing education, democratisation of education, knowledge economy, teaching quality

8.12.2006

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Draft Conclusions of the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member
States, meeting within the Council, on efficiency and equity in education and training

(2006/C 298/03)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE REPRESENTA-
TIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES, MEETING
WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

HAVING REGARD to:

6. the joint interim report of the Council and the Commis-
sion of 26 February 2004 on the implementation of the
‘Education & Training 2010’ work programme, which
emphasises the ‘urgent need to invest more, and more efficiently
and effectively in human resources’ and calls for ‘a higher level
of public sector investment ... and, where appropriate, a higher
level of private investment, particularly in higher education, adult
education and continuing vocational training’ (6);

1. the strategic goal set

for the European Union by the
Lisbon Council of 23-24 March 2000, ‘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’ and the mandate of the
Lisbon Council to the Education Council to undertake ‘a
general reflection on the concrete future objectives of education
focusing on common concerns and priorities while
systems,
respecting national diversity’ (1);

2. the report of the Education Council of 12 February 2001
on ‘The concrete future objectives of education and training
systems’ submitted to the European Council in Stockholm
on 23 and 24 March 2001 setting out three strategic
objectives and thirteen associated objectives (2);

3. the first and second strategic objectives of the ‘Education &
Training 2010’ work programme, ‘Improving the quality and
effectiveness of education and training systems in the EU’ —
including its associated objective ‘Making the best use of
resources’ (3) — and ‘Facilitating the access to all to education
and training systems’ — including its associated objective-
s‘Open learning environment’ and ‘Supporting active citizenship,
equal opportunities and social cohesion’;

4. the Commission communication of 10 January 2003 on
‘Investing efficiently in education and training: an imperative for
Europe’, which calls for ‘a substantial increase in investment in
human resources’ and for ‘spending existing resources more effi-
ciently’ (4);

5. the Council conclusions of 5 May 2003 on Reference
Levels of European Average Performance in Education and
Training (Benchmarks) which stressed that ‘the Council has
agreed to establish a series of reference levels of European average
performance … which will be used as one of the tools for moni-
toring the implementation’ of
the ‘Education & Training
2010’ work programme (5).

(1) Presidency conclusions, Lisbon European Council, 23-24 March

2000 (doc. SN 100/1/00 REV 1).

(2) ‘The concrete future objectives of education and training systems’ —
Report from the Education Council to the European Council (doc.
5980/01).

(3) Detailed work programme on the follow-up of the objectives of
education and training systems in Europe (OJ C 142, 14.6.2002).
(4) ‘Investing efficiently in education and training: an imperative for Europe’

— Commission Communication (doc. 5269/03).

(5) OJ C 134, 7.6.2003, p. 3.

7. the joint interim report of the Council and the Commis-
sion of 23 February 2006 on the implementation of the
‘Education & Training 2010’ work programme, which
underlines that giving equal consideration to the efficiency,
quality and equity objectives of the education and training
systems is a ‘sine qua non of achieving the Lisbon goals while
strengthening the European social model’ and that ‘there is no
trade-off between efficiency and equity’ and further that ‘in par-
ticular,
in pre-primary education is of paramount
importance for preventing school failure and social exclusion’ (7);

investment

8. the conclusions of the Spring European Council of 23-24
March 2006, which stressed that ‘education and training are
critical factors to develop the EU's long-term potential for compe-
titiveness, as well as for social cohesion’, that ‘reforms must ... be
stepped up to ensure high quality education systems which are
both efficient and equitable’ and that ‘investments in education
and training produce high returns which substantially outweigh
the costs and reach far beyond 2010’ (8);

9. the Commission communication on ‘Efficiency and equity in
European education and training systems’ (9) which invites the
Member States to develop a culture of evaluation and
which, having been prepared in collaboration with
research networks, represents a positive step towards the
further development of evidence-based policy in education
and training.

reforms’ — Joint

(6) ‘“Education & Training 2010”: the success of the Lisbon strategy hinges on
the Council and the
interim report of
urgent
Commission on the implementation of the detailedwork programme
on the follow-up of the objectives of education and training systems
inEurope (doc. 6905/04).

(7) ‘Modernising education and training: a vital contribution to prosperity and
social cohesion in Europe’ — 2006 joint interim report of the Council
and of
the ‘Education and
Training 2010’ work programme (OJ C 79, 1.4.2006, p. 1).

the Commission on progressunder

(8) Presidency conclusions, Brussels European Council, 23/24 March

2006 (doc. 7775/06).

(9) ‘Efficiency and equity in European education and training systems’ —
Communication from the Commission to the Council and to the
European Parliament (doc. 12677/06).

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NOTE that

education and training are fields for the relevant authorities
in individual Member States to organise and resource in
accordance with national legislation, policies and practices.
At the same time, however, there is a need for European
cooperation in order to learn from one another's experi-
ences and good practices, and for indicators and bench-
marks in order to follow progress. Successful education
and training policies in a lifelong learning context require
a cross-sectoral approach in conjunction with other rele-
vant policies, especially those in the fields of research and
innovation, employment, economic affairs,
social and
health care, youth and culture.

STATE that

1. education and training, as essential contributors to democ-
racy, social cohesion and sustainable economic growth,
should be seen as a priority investment for the future. The
challenge for Member States within their lifelong learning
strategies is to identify those priorities for education invest-
ments that will impact most efficiently on the quality and
equity of learning outcomes;

improving efficiency and equity in education and training
is crucial in the face of the challenges posed by globalisa-
tion, demographic changes, rapid technological develop-
ments and increasing pressure on public budgets. Despite
the tight constraints on public spending, there is wide-
spread recognition of the need to ensure adequate — and
where
increased — funding for human
resources and therefore to consider how to increase and/or
make the best use of private contributions;

appropriate

2.

3.

5. the motivation, skills and competences of teachers, trai-
ners, other
teaching staff and guidance and welfare
services, as well as the quality of school leadership, are key
factors in achieving high quality learning outcomes. The
efforts of teaching staff should be supported by continuous
professional development and by good cooperation with
parents, pupil welfare services and the wider community.
In addition, high quality teaching and learning environ-
ments ensure good conditions for learning and contribute
to positive learning outcomes;

and

early

targeted

education

6. research evidence has shown that in the long term pre-
primary
intervention
programmes can bring the highest rates of return over the
whole lifelong learning process, especially for the most
disadvantaged. They produce positive human and socio-
economic results that carry over into further education
and adulthood. Whilst respecting the responsibility of the
Member States for organising their education and training
systems, there is also some research evidence to suggest
that, in certain cases, differentiating pupils at too early an
age into separate schools of different types on the basis of
ability may have negative effects on the achievements of
disadvantaged pupils;

7. as learning communities, educational

institutions should
focus on the wider learning environment
in order to
promote and maintain efficiency, equity and general well-
being. Special measures are needed to identify and support
pupils with special educational needs. These measures
include ensuring sufficient numbers of specially trained
teaching and guidance staff together with a high standard
of pupil welfare services and adequate resources. Although
the cross-sectoral co-operation needed for early interven-
tion and other special measures aimed at ensuring equity
in education and training inevitably entail additional costs,
in the long term they pay dividends by helping to avoid
future costs resulting from exclusion;

8.

inequities in education and training systems, resulting in
outcomes such as low levels of achievement, school drop-
outs and early school
leaving, engender heavy hidden
social costs for the future which can far outweigh the
investments made. The development of efficient and equi-
table high quality education and training systems contri-
butes significantly towards reducing the risks of unemploy-
ment, social exclusion and wasted human potential in a
modern knowledge-based economy;

leaving are crucial

improving access to upper secondary level education and
reducing rates of early school
for
increasing the employability of individuals in a modern
knowledge-based society and for fostering social inclusion
and active citizenship, as well as for strengthening the
European social model. As the labour market demand for
skills rises, it is increasingly important to give the younger
thereby
generation access
improving their prospects for employment and social inte-
gration;

to qualifications and skills,

4. quality is a common objective for all forms of education
and training in the European Union and should be regu-
larly monitored and evaluated. Quality is not only a matter
of learning outcomes or delivery of tuition, but also of
how well education and training systems cater for indivi-
dual, social and economic needs, as well as of strength-
ening equity and improving well-being;

9. the need to modernise Europe's universities, given their
interlinked roles in the fields of education, research and
innovation, has been recognised not only as a pre-condi-
tion for the success of the broader Lisbon Strategy, but
also as part of a general move towards an increasingly
global and knowledge-based economy. The growth in

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student numbers and cost of high-quality education and
research will require increased and/or more effective use of
both public and private resources. High quality higher
education also has a key role to play in education and
training as a whole, by educating future teaching staff and
updating and renewing the whole knowledge base of
education;

cularly by focusing on pre-primary education,
targeted
early intervention programmes and equitable education
and training systems that are aimed at providing opportu-
nities, access, treatment and outcomes which are indepen-
dent of socio-economic background and other factors
which may lead to educational disadvantage. In addition,
the provision of high quality teaching in disadvantaged
areas should be particularly encouraged.

10. vocational education and training have a significant impact
on employment and social integration. Ensuring relevant,
high quality qualifications for young people and improving
the skills and competences of the low-skilled and disadvan-
taged groups bring substantial economic gains, even in the
short term. Competence-based qualifications frameworks
learning
and other mechanisms
promote efficiency and equity by taking into account non-
formal and informal
learning outcomes in addition to
formal qualifications. Encouraging partnerships between
stakeholders — including the social partners and sectoral
organisations — could also enhance the effectiveness and
attractiveness of
training
programmes.

recognising prior

education and

vocational

for

term,

In the short

11. rapid technological development together with changes in
the demographic structure of Europe make it necessary to
invest more in updating and upgrading the skills, qualifica-
tions and key competences of adults, especially the low-
skilled.
targeting investments on
updating and upgrading existing skills and competences of
the labour force is a rapid way of contributing towards
economic growth and competitiveness, and of discoura-
the ageing work force. Adult
ging early retirement of
learning also has a key role to play in providing new key
competences, such as digital literacy, and thus contributing
towards greater social inclusion and active participation in
community and society, including after retirement;

3. ensure adequate funding for human resources and, where
appropriate, increase public funding and encourage greater
complementary private contributions,
in order to secure
more equitable access to higher education. The modernisa-
tion of the higher education and research sectors is also
important
efficiency. Consideration
their
should also be given to fostering collaborative links with
business in areas of research and development;

to improve

4. ensure adequate funding of adult education and continuing
vocational education and training, and encourage active
partnerships with employers in order to focus on the skills
needs of the economy,
including at regional and local
levels;

5. encourage

education
research into the outcomes of
reforms and investments and into the social benefits
resulting from them. Coherent, relevant, reliable, evidence-
based information is the basis for accountability as well as
for taking the action needed to achieve quality, equity and
efficiency throughout the education and training system.
At
the same time, monitoring, evaluation and quality
assurance should provide objective and transparent feed-
back and support for the development of teaching and
learning methods and practice;

INVITE THE MEMBER STATES to

INVITE THE COMMISSION AND THE MEMBER STATES to

1. further consider whether the present arrangements for
funding, governing and managing their education and
training systems adequately reflect the need to ensure both
efficiency and equity, and so make optimum use of
resources. With that in view, they are invited to examine
possible ways of improving the present arrangements, in
order to avoid the hidden but high costs of educational
inequity;

2. ensure the efficient targeting of education and training
reforms and investment, both in the long term and the
short term, in order to meet the needs of the knowledge-
based society through improved quality and equity, parti-

1. work together with the relevant research networks,

in
order
to provide more comprehensive and integrated
analyses in support of education and training reforms and,
where appropriate, develop internationally comparable
indicators on the efficiency and equity of education and
training systems;

2. encourage and support

research into the social and
economic impact of education and training reforms and
investments both at national and international level. There
is a need for more research, particularly in sectors that are
not currently sufficiently researched — such as pre-
primary education, vocational training,
lifelong learning
and the economics of education, in particular the impact
of private contributions;

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3. make use of relevant research results and existing data to
combine quality, equity and efficiency dimensions in the
preparation of both the ‘Education & Training 2010’
national reports and the 2008 joint interim report, as well
as in relation to a possible proposal for common objectives
for European education and training systems and their
promotion beyond 2010;

4. design and implement peer-learning activities in the field
of efficiency and equity in the framework of the ‘Education
& Training 2010’ work programme;

5. make appropriate use of the Lifelong Learning Programme,
the Structural Funds and the Seventh Research Framework
Programme to support the efficiency and equity aspects of
education and training systems.