EU urges sustained education spending amid missed benchmarks

Apr 19, 2011, 10:11 GMT

Brussels - The European Union's education commissioner on Tuesday urged member states not to cut education spending amid a widespread austerity wave, as a new progress report showed that EU countries failed to meet four out of five benchmarks set for 2010.

'Spending on education is a good investment for jobs and economic growth and in the long term pays for itself,' Androulla Vassiliou said in a statement. 'But in times of budgetary pressures, we also have to ensure that resources are used as efficiently as possible.'

EU countries managed last year to increase their number of graduates in maths, science and technology by 37 per cent as compared to 2000, far beyond the 15-per-cent target.

The Czech Republic, Portugal and Slovakia posted the most significant growth, while France and Ireland had the worst results in that area, according to the report by the European Commission.

The EU, however, failed to meet literacy, school dropout, graduation and adult education goals, although the commission noted that 'significant' progress had been made in those areas.

The Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia advanced the most, both in lowering school dropout rates and increasing the number of 22-year- olds who have completed high school. Malta and Portugal posted the worst statistics in both areas last year.

Estonia, Finland and the Netherlands were the best achievers in the literacy arena, while Bulgaria and Romania made the least progress. The two countries also performed the worst in the area of adult education, which was led by Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

'The good news is that education levels in Europe have risen considerably,' Vassiliou said. 'But early school leaving continues to be a problem that affects one in seven young people in the EU, and one in five pupils still have poor reading skills at the age of 15.'

The EU now has a new set of benchmarks for 2020 to lower dropout rates; increase the number of 30 to 34-year-olds who have pursued higher education; make early childhood education almost universal; lower the number of 15-year-olds with insufficient reading, math and science skills; and have more adults pursue education or training.

'We need further efforts from member states to reach our joint European targets,' Vassiliou said.

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