society, learners, etc. Participate in the first consultation on “what are the most relevant factors of change and how do they affect LLL?”.
EURASHE organises a seminar on Quality Assurance
Organised in cooperation with the European University and the Open University of Cyprus in the frame of the Cyprus Presidency of the EU, the seminar on the “Implementation of Internal and External Quality Assurance” will take place on 27 and 28 September 2012 in Nicosia, Cyprus. The capacity-building seminar will deal with internal quality assurance processes and instruments for improvement, as well as the implementation of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. Find out more on EURASHE’s website.
A new website for Education International to tackle crisis in education
Faced to the likely failure of the Millennium Development Goal for Education by 2015, Education International, the world’s largest federation of unions with thirty million education employees, defends more public investment for quality education across the world in response to the economic crisis. Education International has for that purpose launched an online platform for advocacy and dissemination of resources. Visit the new website for news, publications, events and much more.
/// INSTITUTIONAL NEWS ///
Follow the next CULT Committee meeting
The CULT Committee of the European Parliament will hold its next meeting on 19 June 2012 at 9.00 – 12.30 and 15.00 – 18.30. The draft agenda notably includes a discussion on the European Social Fund and the general budget of the EU for 2013, as well as an exchange of views with Mrs Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.
The 2012 country-specific recommendations to tackle youth unemployment
The European Commission issued on 30 May 2012 its 2012 country-specific recommendations in the frame of the European Semester (see the press release of the European Commission). Those recommendations, that should be endorsed by the European Council in June and adopted by the Council in July, are the last steps of the Semester cycle before the member states can finalise their budget for the upcoming year and start implementing those measures. This year, some of the recommendations focus on tackling youth unemployment as the Council formation on Education, Youth, Culture and Sport had debated in February on how education and training could contribute to reduce it. Besides, six countries (Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta and Spain) received recommendations to address early school leaving and seven (Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Latvia and Slovakia) on higher education (see the press release).
New Commission roadmap on the Youth on the Move card
The European Commission has just published a new roadmap on a Council recommendation on the Youth on the Move card. In 2012, a communication on the Internalisation of Higher Education, on Rethinking Skills in Europe and on Teaching Professions are also foreseen. You can check all existing roadmaps on theCommission’s website.
Council debates on the recognition of Professional Qualifications
The Council formation meeting on Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry, Research and Space) on 30-31 May 2012 discussed the review of the Professional Qualifications Directive of 2005 proposed by the Commission in December. The main new aspect introduced was the creation and implementation of a European professional card, an electronic certificate issued by the country of origin that could facilitate the mobility of skilled workers by enabling an easier recognition in the host country.
/// RESEARCH & INNOVATION ///
“Inequality in access to education is an obstacle to fight poverty” says new ILO report
The International Labour Organisation has released its “World of Work Report 2012” entitled this year “Better jobs for a better economy”. This edition tackles jobs quality, employment protection and growth in a context of slow recovery of the global economy. Inequalities in access to education around the world are mentioned as factors of perpetual income inequality and obstacles to growth and fight against poverty. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund estimate that 350 000 more students will fail to complete primary school in 2015 due to the recent crisis.
Statistics on the Leonardo programme are available
The Commission has published statistics on the Leonardo da Vinci programme from 2007 to 2011. The mobility programme, aimed at improving the quality and recognition of vocational training, has sent 375 000 learners abroad in the period evaluated and 860 000 since its birth in 1995, with an average grant of approximately 2000 euros per participant. Leonardo should increase work and training placements in enterprises to 80 000 a year by 2013.
The European Parliament assesses the implementation of the EQF
If the implementation of the European Qualifications Framework is rather a successful example of an Open method of coordination (OMC) (notably thanks to the member states’ good political will and the clear guidelines set up to help them developing NQFs), some obstacles remain like the difficulty to engage stakeholders outside formal education and especially the beneficiaries like social partners and citizens. Those are the conclusions drafted by the European Parliament in a new study on the “State of play of the European Qualifications Framework implementation”.
/// EU FUNDING AND OPPORTUNITIES ///
Developing Knowledge Alliances for an Innovation Union
This call for proposals is aimed at developing Knowledge Alliances that are part of the Innovation Union flagship initiative of the Europe 2020 strategy. The Alliances are partnerships between education institutions and business to develop new curricula addressing innovation skills gaps. This call will contribute to the preparations for the implementation of the upcoming “Erasmus for All” programme. Deadline: 28 June 2012.
Edulink II for ACP higher education institutions capacity-building
This call for proposals is aimed at fostering management and academic and regional integration in the field of higher education through institutional networking, in the framework of the ACP-EU cooperation. Find out more on EuropeAid website and answer the call before 30th July 2012.
A European partnership in sports: testing networks and good practices
This call for proposals is launched in the framework of the recently adopted 2012 Annual Work Programme on grants and contracts for the Preparatory Action “European Partnership on Sports” and for the Pilot Project “Knowledge Partnerships”. Transnational projects set up by public bodies and non-profit organisations will be eligible to identify and test suitable networks and good practices in the field of sport. Those projects could among other goals promote physical activity supporting active ageing or find effective ways to promote sport at the municipal level. You can answer the call until July 31st.
Sector skills alliances in the framework of “Erasmus for All”
A call for proposals has been launched to test the new sector skills alliances of the future funding programme 2014-2020. Those alliances are partnerships between education and training providers and businesses to promote employability by forming new sector-specific curricula and innovative forms of vocational teaching and training. This initiative is aimed at tackling the numerous shortages that exist for vocational skills today. Apply before 16st August.
New skills and competences for youth workers’ better mobility
In the framework of the Youth in Action programme, this call aims at promoting the acquisition of new skills and competences by youth workers to support their mobility and exchanges via a better professional profile. The call promotes transnational learning experiences and therefore supports networking between youth structures in Europe as well as the recognition of youth work as a European policy tool. Applybefore 3 September 2012.
/// PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS ///
Get involved for the largest public consultation ever for Europe Day!
Europe Day was the occasion to celebrate the European construction all across Europeand for EUCIS-LLL to publish a press release on its position on the future programme “Erasmus for all”. It was also the occasion for the European Commission to launch the largest public consultation ever on European citizens’ rights. Until 9 September 2012, you can give your views on your rights as an EU citizen or express the position of your organisation on the topic.
Public consultation on a Quality Framework for Traineeships: get on board!
DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission launched a public consultation on a Quality Framework for Traineeships to be answered before July 11th. The opinions collected aim at building a framework to ease the transition from education to work. See the reference documents and the online questionnaire of the DG website.
/// AGENDA ///
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