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Since 2008 Europe has been suffering the effects of the most severe economic crisis it has seen in 50 years: for the first time in Europe there are over 25 million unemployed and in the majority of Member States small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have not yet been able to bounce back to their pre-crisis levels. To bring Europe back to growth and higher levels of employment, Europe needs more entrepreneurs. As a follow up to the Small Business Act review of April 2011 and of the Industrial policy communication adopted last October, the proposed action plan sets out a renewed vision and a number of actions to be taken at both [European Union] EU and Member States' level to support entrepreneurship in Europe. It is based on three pillars: developing entrepreneurial education and training; creating the right business environment; role models and reaching out to specific groups.

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Currently, more than five million young people in the European Union (EU) are unemployed. It is becoming harder for young people to find work and some are deciding to either prolong their studies or going back to study. This could be a positive move for the future if the right skills are acquired. However, a large number of young people are neither working nor studying. The European Commission is proposing a Youth Opportunities Initiative to target those young people not in employment, education or training. Although most of the work will need to be done by the Member States, the EU can provide a supporting role through review of policies and performance and by providing financial support to national and cross-border initiatives. This report outlines the initiative's first steps in supporting skills development and school-to-work transitions. Show less

The comprehensive mid-term stocktaking of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020) carried out in 2014, involving Member States and key stakeholders, and providing the basis for this report, led to three main policy conclusions: (1) The great value of an integrated framework covering education and training at all levels was confirmed. Today's need for flexibility and permeability between learning experiences requires policy coherence from early childhood education and schools through to higher education, vocational education and training and adult learning; (2) The ET 2020's four strategic objectives (and current European Union (EU) benchmarks) remain valid as they were formulated in a comprehensive and forward-looking manner in the ET 2020 Council conclusions of 2009, providing a solid basis for ET 2020 activities up to 2020. However, the policy focus needs to be re-calibrated to include both the pressing economic and employment challenges and the role of education in promoting equity and non-discrimination and in imparting fundamental values, intercultural competences and active citizenship; and (3) The role of ET 2020 as contributor to the overall EU agenda for jobs, growth and investment, including the European Semester, needs to be further deepened. This implies strengthening evidence building and mutual learning around reform challenges as well as increasing the country specific relevance of the framework.

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This report on the current status of the various levels of education in European countries is the result of collaboration between EURYDICE, the information network on education in Europe, and Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Communities. The report is characterised by a combination of statistical data and descriptive information on the organisation and operation of European educational systems. It aims to highlight the differences and similarities between systems and to identify major trends. It is structured on the basis of alternating comparative, statistical and descriptive graphs along with comments on the key issues emerging from the comparison. The report covers 29 European countries, with data on Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia contained in the annex. The chapters are organised by level of education with the addition of two new chapters, one on foreign language learning and one containing a set of indicators about information and communication technology. The report begins with a summary of all chapters and suggestions about how to read them, a glossary of codes and a definition of statistical tools. All data used to create the graphics are contained in the annexes. Show less

[This document] outlines the scope, size and complexity of the challenges that lie ahead, in order to modernize and open up education through new technologies and open educational resources (OER). The document provides the necessary evidence and background analysis on the use of new technologies and OER in education and training across Europe. It is based on in-depth country analysis for all [European Union] EU Member States, expert reports and an extensive literature review on the state of play for new technologies and open educational resources in education and training.

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The study reported here aimed to get better insight into private household spending on education and training in Europe. In the process, the study has collected available statistical information, analysed such data, reviewed some policy documents with relevance to the issue and synthesised the current situation. This report presents the findings and makes proposals for possible future development in this respect. The willingness of a household to invest in education is affected by a number of factors. The study identified these factors: personal and cultural perceptions: institutional, referring to the education system and national legislations; economic factors; and socio-demographic conditions. These factors do vary considerably between Member States and even vary down to the level of individual households. The report reviews the current state of data collection on household expenditure on education, looking at the methodologies used and the resulting effect on the adequacy and quality of such data. It examines the adequacy of the methodologies currently in use with a view to establishing the data sets which are essential but currently not possible to collect in a coherent or harmonised fashion, looks at the role that methodologies (or the lack of these) play in this problem and makes proposals on how to address the problems of comparability, which limit the usefulness of the collected data on household spending on education. The report concludes that analysis of data collected on private household spending on education has clearly demonstrated that while some data is available, the problems of inadequacy and comparability between countries means that at present it is not possible to formulate a total picture of how much households devote to education. Show less

This volume contains the proceedings of the seminar, 'Education and training statistics and the functioning of labour markets' which was held in Thessaloniki, Greece in May 2000. It is organised into three parts, with part one focusing on current uses of education and training statistics, part two focusing on the future and future developments and part three offering conclusions and recommendations.

Papers contained in part one include: The Eurostat data sources combining education/training and labour market statistics / Laurent Freysson; Training of adult workers in OECD countries: measurement and analysis / Paul Swaim and Elena Stancanelli; Graduation and transition to the labour market according to the register based statistical system / Pekka Myrskyla; Transition from education to the labour market / R. Andersson; Educational expansion and skill creation: the generation-based approach / C. Beduwe and B. Fourcade; The users' view / M. Carvalho; Current uses of education and training statistics: the Portuguese situation / F. Marques; The structure of education systems - an international comparison: results and problems from an Austrian perspective / A. Schneeberger; Statistics on labour market problems in the public sector in the Netherlands: experiences of a user / L. Herweijer; Analysis of labour market outcomes from education and training in England / C. Littler.

Papers contained in part two include: Surveys on education and training in Italy / A. Micali; Statistics on adult training - conceptual problems / H. Naesheim; Statistics on in-service training and further education in Norway / K. J. Einarsen; Changes in labour markets and their impact on education and training statistics / R. Fox; Education/employment interfaces - skills and statistical coverage / J. Planas and G. Sala; The users' view / D. Paparella.

Part three contains: Usable education and training statistics - is it possible? / E. Graversen; Summing up / M. van Herpen.

Individual papers may be found indexed from TD/TNC 75.202 to TD/TNC 75.218. Show less

'Education and Training 2010' is a long-term project governed by the European Commission which aims to contribute to the Lisbon Strategy in the area of education and training. The goal of the project is to see Europe recognised by 2010 as the world leader in terms of the quality of its education and training systems. This joint document from the Education Council and the European Commission addresses the detailed work program published in 2002 (indexed at TD/TNC 80.531), which identified 13 major objectives of education and training systems, and assigned initial indicators to them. This document has been created in response to the Barcelona European Council's request for a report on the implementation of the work program, and outlines progress made to date, identifies future challenges and proposes measures designed to ensure that the set objectives are achieved. Findings of this report indicate that, if the concrete objectives are to be attained before the target date of 2010, the pace of reforms will need to be accelerated. It is the contention of the authors that the profile of 'Education and Training 2010' needs to be lifted at both national and community levels. Three key priority areas are also highlighted in this report, and it is strongly emphasised that they be acted upon without delay: (1) focus reform and investment on the key areas for the knowledge-based society; (2) make lifelong learning a concrete reality; (3) establish a Europe of education and training.

Selected documents relating to ‘Education and Training 2010’ are indexed from TD/TNC 80.530 to TD/TNC 80.541. Show less

The purpose of this report is to draw on indicators and benchmarks in order to provide strategic guidance for the Education and Training 2010 program and to set out the evidence available on progress towards the objectives agreed by ministers. The 16 core indicators for monitoring progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training are: (1) Participation in pre-school education; (2) Special needs education; (3) Early school leavers; (4) Literacy in reading, mathematics and science; (5) Language skills; (6) ICT skills; (7) Civic skills; (8) Learning to learn skills; (9) Upper secondary completion rates of young people; (10) Professional development of teachers and trainers; (11) Higher education graduates; (12) Cross-national mobility of students in higher education; (13) Participation of adults in lifelong learning; (14) Adult skills; (15) Educational attainment of the population; and (16) Investment in education and training.

The leaflet summarising this report is indexed at TD/TNC 93.240. Show less

This report presents the fundamental aims of, and possible changes to education in order to construct European Union (EU) citizenship. The report proposes reinforcing EU competitiveness, preserving employment and maintaining social cohesion through education and training and making education and training systems and related EU activities more dynamic. This report was produced by the Study group on education and training, comprising 25 experts who advise the Commission. Show less