10/25/2013

One million Polish parents protest against government decisions

Since 2009, parents in Poland have been protesting against government’s decision regarding school being obligatory for six year olds. During this time, more than one million signatures have been collected. Parents are very active in the media as well as in parliamentary committees - numerous meetings and debates with politicians are taking place lately.

10/21/2013

Commission launched 'Opening up Education' to boost innovation and digital skills in schools and universities

More than 60% of nine year olds in the EU are in schools which are still not digitally equipped. The European Commission unveiled 'Opening up Education', an action plan on 25 September 2013 to tackle this and other digital problems which are hampering schools and universities from delivering high quality education and the digital skills which 90% of jobs will require by 2020. To help kick-off the initiative, the Commission launched a new website, Open Education Europa, which will allow students, practitioners and educational institutions to share free-to-use open educational resources.

European Parliament report on Rethinking Education

This Parliament report welcomes the Commission Communication “Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes” and makes several observations.

Council Declaration on the European Alliance for Apprenticeships

The Council of the EU has adopted a very important Declaration on The European Alliance for Apprenticeships. To prevent youth unemployment they reinforced the Youth Guarantee at the same time.
The Alliance for Apprenticeships is a multi-stakeholder initiative with two broader aims:
  • to improve the quality and supply of apprenticeships across the EU
  • to change mind-sets towards apprenticeship-type learning
It will do so by a set of more specific objectives: helping to set up, revive or modernise existing apprenticeship schemes, drawing on lessons from successful models and on transnational cooperation, including mobility, by promoting national and transnational partnerships for developing and fostering work-based learning in companies, and by promoting the benefits of apprenticeship systems, in particular to companies, VET providers, students and parents.
Read the full declaration here

The Human Right to Education Declaration

A broad group of civil society networks and organisations, including EAEA, have come together to highlight the compelling case for ensuring that the fulfilment of human rights is at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda in a Civil Society Joint Statement. The education narrative, as well as goals and core indicators, should be grounded in a human rights perspective.

PIAAC results show that parents have to keep learning

The PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) first Survey on Adult Skills by OECD found that there are huge problems with the literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skill of adults. The worst result are in ICT skills, to dear parents, it's time to start learning from our children!

10/11/2013

Symposium on the advancement of language proficiency held in Potsdam from September 20 to September 22, 2013 - news from our member

Resolution 

Integration through education can be achieved by taking several steps:



- teachers need to be qualified for a sensitive use of the German language, as well as other languages pupils may be using
- standardized federal test to evaluate the pupils' language proficiency regardless of their origin
- multiprofessional teams create training material for indiviual programms to increase language proficiency
- compensation for language disadvantages as well as assistance up until a first job qualification is achieved
- standardized federal training plans for teachers, educators and instructors with a compulsive module "German as a foreign language" as well as
  extensive training opportunities for language advancement
- research that is in step with the actual practice, and a direct incorporation of the results at the schools
- a fair cooperation between pupils, parents, schools and company training institutions

Original Press Release in German:

Titel: „Sprachförderung für den  Bildungserfolg“

„Sprachförderung in der Sekundarstufe I und II“  war Thema einer Fachtagung des Bundeselternrats vom 20. bis zum 22. September in Potsdam.  Die wichtigste Erkenntnis fasst der Vorsitzende, Hans-Peter Vogeler, so zusammen: „Lehrkräfte aller Schulformen und aller Fächer brauchen Fortbildung für den sensiblen Umgang mit der deutschen Sprache, aber auch mit anderen Sprachen, die die Schüler mitbringen. Dies wäre ein großer Schritt zur Bildungsgerechtigkeit. Eine Schule, in der viele Sprachen gesprochen werden, ist kein Problemfall, sondern ein Haus der Chancen.“
In den Fachvorträgen wurde deutlich, wie häufig Besonderheiten der deutschen Bildungssprache für Schüler zum Problem werden. Wenn eine intensive und qualitativ hochwertige Sprachförderung betrieben wird, führt das zu deutlich besseren Schülerleistungen.  Die Tagungsteilnehmer fordern in ihrer Resolution (siehe
http://tinyurl.com/mp33gyz) bundesweite Standards für die Sprachförderung in allen Fächern aller Schulformen und Sprachförderung als Teil der Aus- und Fortbildung aller Pädagogen.

10/09/2013

Social Networks: We Are Running Out of Excuses!

We are the first generation of parents and educators learning to live with social networks – the first!

It is surprising that there should appear in the world of education, where everything would seem to have been invented over 2,500 years, new resources driving us to such a thorough recycling effort. Yet it happens.
It would be hard to imagine Aristotle’s work if he had been able to connect to Facebook and enter into a dialogue with, say, a Persian philosopher, and chat on Twitter with Alexander the Great, while exchanging whatsapp messages with some erudite Egyptian priest from Ptolemy’s court. The change that these new forms of communication bring to our lives is so great that we need to stop, take a deep breath and, after a while, think what we mean to do, where we want to go, and what our attitude ought to be in the face of the overwhelming response that our children have given to those new forms.

10/01/2013

Emily O'Reilly begins work as European Ombudsman

Following her election by the European Parliament in July, Emily O'Reilly steps down as IrishOmbudsman and begins work as European Ombudsman on 1 October 2013. She followsP. Nikiforos Diamandouros, who retires after serving as European Ombudsman for more than ten years.