Social inclusion: a key issue in EU enlargement
Year/Date: 04/04/2011
The ethnic, language and religious diversity, and the inequalities in the populations of South Eastern Europe make inclusive education, with equitable access to all, a crucial issue.
On 4-5 April 2011, the ETF and Directorate General for Enlargement of the European Commission held a workshop in Turin to support regional policies in the Western Balkans and Turkey on social inclusion through education and training.
Among participants were representatives of governments from the region, EU institutions and international partners.
Citing recent reports, Evgenia Petkova, an ETF expert, listed the challenges to social inclusion in the region:
- High dropout rates among secondary school students; transition from primary to secondary school is the most critical point and many disadvantaged students don’t get through,
- Ethnic backgrounds affect the educational choices of students and parents; there are many cases of segregation along ethnic lines,
- Gender: girls, especially in Kosovo and Turkey, participate less than boys in education,
- Limited skills and incentives for teachers to improve inclusiveness of schools,
- Vocational education and training is underused as a channel to promote social inclusion,
- Policies target the most disadvantaged—disabled, internally displaced and returnees, or Roma;
- Social inclusion measures or projects often tackle one category of people at a time; there is a need for a more comprehensive approach.
Listen to Evgenia Petkova describing the challenges to inclusive education in Western Balkans and Turkey
The event was an opportunity for region’s stakeholders to contribute to the design of future activities financed by the European Commission under the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance 2011-2013 in the area of Human Rights, Minorities and Vulnerable Groups.
The ETF’s experience, and the work it has done so far on inclusive education in the region, places it in a unique position to help the European Commission in this consultation.
Agota Kovacs of Directorate General for Enlargement at the European Commission said: ‘Social Inclusion is very important in the context of EU Enlargement and our strategy reflects it. Those societies go through changes and reforms, but as a precondition for the reforms they need to be more inclusive and more open, embracing all categories and groups in the society.‘
Listen to Agota Kovacs talking about importance of social inclusion in the context of EU enlargement.
At the event, the ETF presented its new report ‘Teachers for the Future’. The study was carried out by a team of researches of twelve nationalities from think tanks, EU institutions, the ETF and seven Western Balkan countries. It mapped the issues, challenges and opportunities in teacher development for inclusive education in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
Lida Kita, ETF lead expert on social inclusion, said: ‘It will be impossible to introduce inclusive education with confidence until teachers are ready to engage with it and commit to it, and to develop competences for this work. Teachers are not just some individuals in classrooms. They have big role in their communities.’
The report gives a series of recommendations for policymakers, teacher educators, nongovernmental organisations and donors, as well as principals and teachers. It will be available on ETF website in April 2011.
Topics
Lifelong learning
Put simply, lifelong learning means that people can – and should have the opportunity to – learn throughout their lives.
Equality in education
Across the world, certain groups of people are still hard pressed to get the most out of their education and training system.
Education and business
Partnership between the worlds of work and education is a process that is set to become an integral part of how we go about developing education.
Employment
“Employment”: a better guidance contributes to broader economic and social well-being by easing the functioning of labour markets.
Skills recognition
Making qualifications transparent and easily readable, even across international frontiers, is a high priority for the ETF.
School and teacher development
Teachers are a critical factor in education reforms. The ETF takes therefore the role of schools and teachers seriously throughout its work.
Key competences
Focusing on key competences is one of the surest ways of keeping education and training relevant in a fast-changing environment.
VET Governance
Governance modes and models have a high correlation with the overall performance of education and training policies, influencing their strategic formulation and implementation.
Projects
ETF Tweeters
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#FYROM #Kosovo* #OPT: Tricky country names and how to use them without offending anyone http://t.co/Va1ksyODEP My last blog post #etfPosted on 22nd May- http://t.co/kyeCdZZbsp / Enlargement / Iceland leader snubs EU membership http://t.co/qcUUPToRU5 #etfeuropa #yamPosted on 22nd May
- http://t.co/kyeCdZZbsp / Enlargement / Iceland leader snubs EU membership http://t.co/qcUUPToRU5 #etfeuropa #yamPosted on 22nd May
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