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The [Erasmus Mundus] EM II (2009-2013) programme aims to enhance the quality of European higher education, to help improve the career prospects of students and to promote dialogue and understanding between peoples and cultures through international cooperation and to contribute to the sustainable development of third countries in the field of higher education, in accordance with [European Union] EU external policy objectives. [This report] draws on the findings of the interim evaluation of EM II regarding the results achieved and on the qualitative aspects of the implementation of the programme. It puts forward the European Commission's position on the main conclusions and recommendations of the interim evaluation. These conclusions and recommendations are based on extensive surveys and interviews of EM participants and key stakeholders.

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The 'Rethinking education' communication aims to help Member States by setting out a range of fields in which the efficiency and effectiveness of education and training systems can be improved. In this context, given the importance of the teaching professions for learning outcomes, and the large proportion of national education budgets that is spent on them, it is essential to identify policies that reinforce the recruitment, initial education, induction and continuing professional development of teachers and trainers; the practice of school leadership; and the profession of teacher educators. The teaching professions include all those who teach, educate, manage learning, or educate educators in the following education fields: early childhood education and care; compulsory education; vocational education and training; and adult education. This document applies to all these professionals (except where otherwise stated) and highlights the evidence base for the corresponding policy proposals outlined in the communication 'Rethinking education'. The findings aim to support and encourage Member States to consider a number of priority areas for action and investment in teaching professions to achieve necessary reforms, taking into account the current socioeconomic crisis.

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This paper aims to give an overview of European Skills/Competences, qualifications and Occupations (ESCO), it's three pillar approach and the level of its development. ESCO is a multi-lingual classification system based on the classification of occupations and skills/competences currently used on EURES, the European Job Mobility Portal. ESCO's three pillars consist of: (1) occupations; (2) skills and competences; and (3) qualifications. Show less

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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This report presents the findings of the joint Australia-Europe working group on a comparative analysis of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). This activity occurred in the context of the longstanding education and training policy dialogue between the European Union (EU) and Australia, where an enhanced relationship between the AQF and the EQF has been an important theme. The Group carried out its activities in 2014 and 2015, further to an agreement from early 2014 to compare the characteristics of the EQF as a regional framework for European countries and the AQF as a national framework.

The purpose of this joint activity is to analyse and document the technical and conceptual characteristics of the respective frameworks in their operational contexts, and systematically identify key elements of their comparability, similarities and differences, in a mutually beneficial way. The comparison of the AQF and EQF will create a 'zone of mutual trust', leading to a better functional understanding and appreciation of AQF qualifications and respective learning outcomes in Europe, and a better understanding of the EQF in Australia, and the respective European national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) that are referenced to it. By broadening and deepening the functional knowledge and understanding of respective frameworks, transparency in the frameworks can be further elevated which, in turn, can enhance opportunities for future cooperation between Australia and Europe.

The intended audience for this report is policy makers in Australia, Europe and beyond who wish to gain further understanding of the commonalities and differences between the AQF and EQF. Equally, it is intended that the report be used as a resource to inform policy decision-making for future education and training cooperation and engagement, particularly in key policy areas of strategic importance to Australia and Europe, some of which have been identified during the process of collaboration in this joint activity.

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Following the publication of ‘A memorandum of lifelong learning’ (indexed at TD/IRD 88.400) in October 2000, the European Commission invited Member States to launch a consultation process to collect together all views on how best to make progress in implementing lifelong learning. Feedback from the Europe-wide consultation was then used to develop the analysis and proposals in the Communication on ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’ (indexed at TD/IRD 88.264). National reports were submitted by each Member State as well as by candidate countries and Iceland and Norway. This document is the national report from Romania. It is presented in three main sections. The first section outlines the research methodology; the second section contains the preliminary results of the investigation presented under the six key messages in the Memorandum; and the final section contains examples of good practices in view of the six key messages.

Documents from ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’ are indexed from TD/TNC 77.521 to TD/TNC 77.539. Show less

This document, which accompanies the European Commission communication 'Rethinking education: investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes', contains individual country summaries that highlight the main challenges to skill provision specific to the different European countries and outline the most significant measures adopted to respond to such challenges. The quantitative and qualitative evidence will provide essential elements for monitoring the implementation of the country-specific recommendations resulting from the European semester under the European 2020 strategy. Countries covered in Part I are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland and Italy. Countries in part II are: Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia and United Kingdom. Show less

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

For many students entering higher education in South Africa there is an articulation gap between the demands of the curriculum and their competencies. This mismatch is particularly critical in the area of quantitative literacy (mathematical literacy, numeracy) and if not addressed, has negative consequences for equity of outcomes for higher education. There is a need to make explicit the quantitative literacy demands of the curriculum so that they can be examined critically and addressed by educational interventions and other curriculum changes. We describe our approach to characterizing the quantitative literacy demands in curricula in disciplines, by presenting a framework for analysing aspects of quantitative literacy events in the curriculum. This is useful for helping educators to recognize the demands on students’ quantitative literacy (and assumptions about students’ competencies) that are often implicit in their curricula, for the purpose of informing the design of education interventions and for developing test constructs.

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ESCO is the multilingual classification of European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations. It identifies and categorises skills, competences, qualifications and occupations relevant for the [European Union] EU labour market and education and training, in 25 European languages. The system provides occupational profiles showing the relationships between occupations, skills, competences and qualifications. ESCO has been developed in an open [information technology] IT format, is available for use free of charge by everyone and can be accessed through an online portal.

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