Forum on the future priorities of ET2020

The third annual Education, Training and Youth Forum was held in Brussels on 9th and 10th October. As usual there were about 350 stakeholders in these fields and as usual parents were represented by EPA. The Forum witnessed the farewell of Commissioner Vassiliou who has done a lot during her 5-year assignment and also we heard the encouragingly enthusiastic Silvia Costa, the new President of the CULT Committee of the European Parliament. Xavier Prats-Monné who became Director General at DG EAC introduced some thought-provoking ideas. The results of a stakeholder survey was presented as well as a report on youth work in Europe. Participants had the opportunity to share some thoughts in workshops and at the end of the Forum Pierre Mairesse, Director General at DG EAC shared his thoughts about the issues highlighted by the participants. Read our detailed report below.

'Protection of minors in the context of screen convergence' confrence in Barcelona

On behalf of EPA, board member Josep-Manuel Prats has attended a conference in Barcelona on 9/10 October, held by Euralva and some local Associations of listeners and viewers. The topic of the conference was Media Convergence, and it took a view of the European regulations, technical solutions and education. The general contents of the conference in Barcelona was not especially focused on parental education and training to face the challenges properly, but on regulatory and technical solutions. We think that this is good, but not enough.

Global Handwashing Day - 15th October

Global Handwashing Day was originally created for children and schools, but can be celebrated by anyone promoting handwashing with soap.

Each year, over 200 million people are involved in celebrations in over 100 countries around the world. Global Handwashing is endorsed by a wide array of governments, international institutions, civil society organizations, NGOs, private companies, and individuals.

The day was established to

foster and support a global culture of handwashing with soap,

shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing in every country,

raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap.

Empowering marginalised groups through education and training in the Danube Region

The two-day conference held in Vienna on 2/3 October 2014 mainly focused on presenting strategies and projects for the inclusion of Roma families into society and especially on improving children’s integration in school. Read Arja Krauchenberg's report below

Nordic conference on an equal school for all in Helsinki

From 12.-13.September 2014 the Nordic Committee for parent organizations in the Nordic countries organized a conference with over 50 participants from parent organizations in the Nordic countries. Participants came from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway.

Why languages matter: European and national perspectives on multilingualism

The conference Why languages matter: European and national perspectives on mulitlingualism was held in Florence, Italy on 25^th and 26^th September 2014 in the frame of the Italian presidency. The event was attended by Arja Krauchenberg on behalf of EPA. Read her comprehensive report here:

Eurydice launches new short overview on Annual Instruction Time

The Comparative Overview on Recommended Annual Instruction Time in Full-time Compulsory Education in Europe 2013/14 has just been published by Eurydice. Going through the data some EPA members found that the data provided by their respective governments and used by Eurydice may not be correct. We would appreciate if EPA members sent us their comments if they find mistakes in the data provided.