EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - EC Communication stresses social benefits of educational equality

EC Communication stresses social benefits of educational equality

11-09-2006

The European Commission adopted a Communication on improving the European educational system on 8 September. Central point in the communication is that educational systems should not only be efficient, but equitable as well. If not, they will fail to create more growth, jobs and social cohesion. According to the Commission, inequities in education and training have huge hidden costs. The Commission proposes four main areas for action by the Member States.

“Efficient education and training systems can have a significant positive impact on our economy and society,” said Ján Figel’, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture, and Multilingualism, “but inequities in education and training have huge hidden costs which are rarely shown in public accounting systems. If we forget the social dimension of education and training, we risk incurring huge corrective costs later on.” For example: the UK government's finances would stand to benefit to the tune of around £665 million per year through reduced crime and increased earning potential if an extra 1% of the working population had A levels (exams sat at the end of secondary education).

To improve the functioning of the European educational system, the Commission proposes four new direction for member states´ educational policies:

Member States should invest more in pre-primary education. Results from a number of Member States show that pre-primary education yields the highest returns in terms of the achievement and social adaptation of children. It is the most effective means to establish the basis for further learning, preventing school drop-out, increasing equity of outcomes and overall skill levels.
Member States should not separate pupils into educational ‘tracks’ at too early an age. This practice has been found to exacerbate the effect of socio-economic background on educational attainment and does not raise efficiency in the long run.
Contrary to what is often assumed, entirely state-funded, “free” systems of higher education do not guarantee equitable access and participation. In fact, those systems funded entirely by the state may bring about a reverse distribution from the poor to the rich, since all taxpayers, including those who have not benefited from higher education, bear the cost of the system. The Commission underlines the importance of generating higher investment for higher education from public and private sources, including through tuition fees, co mbined with support targeted at socially disadvantaged students.
Member States need to develop a ‘culture of evaluation’. When deciding on their investment priorities, Member States must first understand what is happening in their education and training systems – this is a basic principle of evidence-based policy-making. Since the results of investment in education and training only build up over time, they will need a statistical infrastructure capable of collecting appropriate data, and mechanisms to assess progress and measure success.

Source: European Commission Press Room

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