Conclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council of 21 November 2008 on preparing young people for the 21st century: an agenda for European cooperation on schools
Date: 2008-11-21
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: continuing vocational training, education policy, educational system, teacher training, teaching quality, vocational training

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Conclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States,
meeting within the Council of 21 November 2008 on preparing young people for the 21st century:
an agenda for European cooperation on schools

(2008/C 319/08)

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

WHEREAS:

1. The

conclusions of

the Lisbon European Council of
23 and 24 March 2000 (1) emphasised that investment in
education and training was of crucial
importance in the
European knowledge-based economy.

2. The Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 12 February 2001 on European cooperation in
quality evaluation in school education (2)
invited Member
States to support the improvement of quality evaluation in
school education.

3. The conclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of
the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the
Council, of 14 November 2006 on efficiency and equity in
education and training (3) invited Member States to ensure
the efficient targeting of education and training reforms and
investment to improve quality and equity, particularly by
intervention
focusing on pre-primary
programmes and equitable education and training systems.

education,

early

4. Decision No 1720/2006/EC of the European Parliament and
the Council of 15 November 2006 (4) established an

of
action programme in the field of lifelong learning.

5. The Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for life-
long learning (5) set out the minimum knowledge, skills and
attitudes which all pupils should have acquired by the end of
initial education and training in order to take part in the
knowledge society and which, given their cross-cutting
nature,
imply an approach to teaching that goes beyond
traditional subject boundaries.

6. The Council Resolution of 15 November 2007 (6) stressed
the need to equip people with new skills for new jobs and to
raise overall skills levels, by providing initial and continuing
education and training for skills of the highest quality,
in
order to maintain and strengthen their capacity for innova-
tion, which is required for greater competitiveness, growth
and employment.

(1) Doc. SN 100/1/00 REV 1, paragraph 25.
(2) OJ L 60, 1.3.2001.
(3) OJ C 298, 8.12.2006.
(4) OJ L 327, 24.11.2006.
(5) OJ L 394, 30.12.2006.
(6) OJ C 290, 4.12.2007.

7. The conclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of
the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the
Council, of 15 November 2007 on improving the quality of
teacher education (7) emphasised the need to ensure that
initial training, early career support
provision for teachers'
coordinated,
and further professional development
coherent, adequately resourced and quality assured.

is

the potential

8. The conclusions of the March 2008 European Council (8)
stressed that a key factor for future growth is the full devel-
opment of
for innovation and creativity of
European citizens built on European culture and excellence
in science, and urged Member States to reduce substantially
the number of young people who cannot read properly and
the number of early school
leavers, and to improve the
achievement of learners from migrant or disadvantaged back-
grounds.

9. The Council conclusions of 22 May 2008 on promoting
creativity and innovation through education and training (9)
noted that there is a growing need for action at national
level as well as cooperation at EU level to bring about the
change necessary if schools are to prepare pupils to face the
significant challenges and problems of a fast-changing world,

WELCOME the Communication from the Commission to the
Council and the European Parliament of 3 July 2008 entitled
Improving competences for the 21st Century: An Agenda for European
Cooperation on Schools, which proposes an agenda for coopera-
tion between Member States aimed at stepping up and strength-
ening the development of school systems.

REAFFIRM THAT:

1. free compulsory education is a fundamental right for all citi-
zens, the provision of which is the duty of public authorities
and organisation of which the responsibility of the Member
States;

2. school education — including all forms of school education
up to the end of secondary — lays the foundations for life-
long learning by enabling pupils to acquire the key compe-
tences which they will need and which will help to guide
them throughout their personal and professional lives;

(7) OJ C 300, 12.12.2007.
(8) Doc. 7652/08, paragraph 15, p. 10.
(9) OJ C 141, 7.6.2008, p. 17.

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3. school education not only represents an important means of
socialising individuals and passing on the values, skills,
knowledge and attitudes required for democracy, citizenship,
intercultural dialogue and personal development, but also
plays an essential role in the acquisition of the key compe-
tences needed for successful integration into economic life;

5. a coherent approach to competence development, based on
the European reference framework of key competences for
lifelong learning (1), implies the need for stronger efforts to
improve reading literacy and other basic skills, as well as
more personalised approaches to learning that respond to
the unique needs of each pupil, that involve suitable forms of
assessment and that lead to better motivation for learning;

4. schools have a duty to provide their pupils with an education
which will enable them to adapt to an increasingly globa-
lised, competitive, diversified and complex environment, in
which creativity, the ability to innovate, a sense of initiative,
entrepreneurship and a commitment to continue learning are
just as important as the specific knowledge of a given
subject;

6. ensuring high-quality education and training systems which
are both equitable and efficient (2) requires better and more
accessible pre-school provision, ambitious schools that offer
equitable opportunities for all pupils, regardless of their back-
grounds, as well as the right balance of mainstream and
specialist provision for children with special needs;

5. although responsibility for the organisation and content of
education and training systems rests with individual Member
States, and schools may sometimes enjoy a considerable
degree of autonomy, European cooperation has a valuable
role to play. It can help Member States to meet common
challenges,
in particular by means of the open method of
coordination;

6. Member States have a common interest in cooperating in
innovative and

order to draw benefit from the range of
high-quality practices to be found in EU school systems.

7. greater efforts are also required to implement the Council
conclusions of November 2007 (3) in which Member States
were invited to ensure a high standard of
initial teacher
education, to provide early career support and continuing
is coordinated, coherent,
that
professional development
adequately resourced and quality assured, to attract into the
teaching profession — and endeavour to retain — the most
able people, to tackle instances of poor performance, to
support all pupils in making full use of their potential and to
create school environments in which teachers learn from one
another and which focus on improving student learning.

EMPHASISE THAT:

AGREE ON THE
COOPERATION ON SCHOOLS:

FOLLOWING PRIORITIES

FOR EUROPEAN

1. given the essential contribution made by education and
training to the future growth, long-term competitiveness and
social cohesion of the Union, as well as to the promotion of
active citizenship, they should remain a key priority for the
next cycle of the Lisbon process;

2. further development of school systems is needed to ensure
that social cohesion is maintained and that — through
improved access and opportunities — every young person is
able to develop his or her full potential and to become an
active participant in the emerging knowledge society;

3. schools need to foster creativity and a spirit of innovation
and enterprise in their pupils by providing stimulating
working environments. To achieve this, schools should them-
selves be creative, dynamic places that are open to coopera-
tion and partnerships with the wider world and that develop
a culture of internal and external evaluation in which families
too are involved,
in order to identify possible areas for
change and improvement;

4. there is still on average insufficient progress towards the
three European benchmarks adopted by the Council for 2010
which relate directly to school education: on early school
leavers,
reading literacy and the completion of upper
secondary education;

1. to guarantee and improve the acquisition of key compe-

tences, in particular literacy and numeracy;

2. to enhance

the

essential

role which schools play in
promoting inclusive societies and strengthening social cohe-
sion, by ensuring high-quality education for all pupils in
accordance with the principle of equity;

3. to promote teaching as a profession and to improve initial
and in-service training for teaching staff and school leaders.

INVITE THE MEMBER STATES, WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE
COMMISSION,

1. within the framework of the open method of coordination,
to work together to enhance European cooperation in order
to promote
in these
conclusions;

the policy priorities outlined

(1) OJ L 394, 30.12.2006.
(2) European Council Conclusions, March 2006 (doc. 7775/06, para-

graph 23, p. 6).

(3) OJ C 300, 12.12.2007.

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2. when following up the Recommendation on key compe-

— improving the governance of schools and their openness

tences for lifelong learning, to focus cooperation on:

to the world around them;

— increasing levels of

literacy and numeracy, as well as
promoting the learning of at least two languages in addi-
tion to the mother tongue,

— stimulating greater interest in mathematics, science and
to develop scientific ways of

technology,
thinking from an early age,

in order

— reinforcing not only subject-based, but also transversal
competences, in particular ‘learning to learn’ and social
and civic competences,

— improving assessment techniques in the context of perso-

nalised learning;

3. when following up the Council conclusions on efficiency and
equity in education and training, to focus cooperation on:

— ensuring accessible, high-quality pre-school provision,

— reducing early school leaving,

— combating inequality and fostering social

inclusion, by
seeking to reduce the underachievement of pupils and to
improve the performance of schools,

— ensuring successful transitions between different school
types and levels, and into lifelong education and training,
particularly by improving access to and the quality of
information, guidance and advice services,

— ensuring access to high-quality educational opportunities
and services, particularly for children and young people
who — disadvantaged by personal, social, cultural and/or
economic circumstances — need particular support in
order to fulfil their educational potential,

— identifying learning difficulties early and finding solutions
based on more personalised pedagogical approaches,
tailored to the needs and abilities of each pupil,

— ensuring timely and adequate learning support for all
pupils with special needs, whether in mainstream or
specialised schools,

4. when following up the Council conclusions on improving
the quality of teacher education, to focus cooperation on:

— enhancing the attractiveness of teaching as a profession,

— enabling all beginning teachers to benefit from structured

early career support programmes,

— improving the supply, quality and take-up of teachers'

continuous professional development programmes,

— reviewing teacher recruitment, placement, retention and
mobility policies, in order to maximise their impact on
the quality of school education,

— expanding opportunities for teachers to spend a period
of time in another Member State, so that they can further
their own education and training, acquire additional
work experience and develop their
foreign language
skills,

— improving the recruitment and training of school leaders,
in order to enhance their management and teaching
skills;

5. to use all relevant instruments, such as those forming part of
the open method of coordination,
the Lifelong Learning
Programme, the 7th Framework Programme for Research
in accordance with
and Technological Development and,
national priorities, the European Social Fund,
in order to
promote the above aims;

6. to conduct regular dialogue on schools issues — including
the promotion of creativity and innovative capacity in and
through school education — involving high-level policy
makers from the Member States.

INVITE THE COMMISSION:

to propose appropriate forms of cooperation and the exchange of good
practice in the areas set out in these conclusions,
in the context of
preparations for a new strategic framework for European cooperation in
education and training beyond 2010.