The 2015 edition of the EU's Education and Training Monitor shows that more EU states have now reached their goals in increasing the number of students completing higher levels of education and minimising those leaving education early. This means Europe is on track to reach the targets set in its growth and jobs strategy by 2020.
However, this progress is uneven, with discrepancies between and within EU member states. Pupils from disadvantaged and immigrant backgrounds are most at risk of not reaching minimal educational standards.
Background
The Education and Training Monitor 2015 (ETM) is the fourth edition of this annual report that captures the evolution of Europe's education and training systems by bringing together a wide array of evidence. It measures Europe's progress on the objectives of the Europe 2020 headline target for education, as part of the broader EU growth and jobs strategy. The report is also the starting point for assessing EU countries' performance as a basis for the yearly Country Reports in the framework of the European Semester.
The study also strengthens the evidence-base for education and training policies more broadly and has become a reference tool for policy makers around Europe. It comprises a cross-country comparison, twenty-eight in-depth country reports, and a dedicated webpage with additional data and information.
Mutual learning and a strengthened evidence-base are crucial for the EU states to address challenges like rising inequalities and persisting unemployment. The data compiled by the Monitor can also help to improve understanding and response to growing risks of radicalisation, as highlighted by attacks in Paris and Copenhagen earlier this year, as well as tackling challenges posed by the ongoing refugee crisis by building more open and cohesive societies.
EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics underlined that education had been crucial for boosting economic growth and building cohesive societies.
On the occasion of the ETM-2015, he added that while Europe's education systems improved, it has been all the way important that the benefits of the education policy's success would be shared by those most at risk. This requires new and reinforced investment into education to ensure high quality, open, supportive and tolerant learning environments for all, he added.
Main evidences
Evidence gathered for the Monitor shows that 15-year olds with low socio-economic status are five times more likely not to achieve basic skills like literacy and numeracy than their peers from better-off backgrounds. It also highlights the fact that foreign-born students are twice as likely to leave school early as native-born students (see table below).
This situation is set against continuous spending cuts in educational budgets, which have fallen by 3.2% across Europe since 2010.
The study concludes that a new boost in investment for education was needed to build more inclusive educational systems in Europe and avoid rising 'educational poverty', which remains a root cause of unemployment and social exclusion. It recommends the EU states to focus additional efforts on improving the accessibility, quality and relevance of their education and training systems.
