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Proposal of Newropeans for a European policy in the field of education

 

Newropeans supports a pro-active ’European Policy in the field of Education’, but opposes anything which could resemble a ’European Education Policy’.

1. The EU is facing a crisis today, because its citizens are not trained to control the European dimension of our society and because its national-minded elites do not know how to run the European continent efficiently. The democratic recasting of the European Union starts with education, through the same way that a million European students already took, since the launch of Erasmus, the Community student mobility programme, in 1987.

2. It is today an absolute need to enable the largest possible number of citizens in Europe to become competent European citizens. They have to be able to understand, propose and act on the European level - alone or together with other European citizens. Otherwise our hope for democratizing the EU will stay a dream ... and power in the EU will stay in the hands of small elites, who can speak foreign languages, travel easily, build networks throughout the continent, and understand issues before they are decided upon.

3. The aims of the “European Policy in the field of Education” that Newropeans proposes are as follows:

  • to allow the maximum number of young people discover other Europeans and what is required to interact with them,
  • to enable a growing number of our students to become trained in a trans-European way in order to enlarge and diversify socially the European elites who can manage networks, organizations or projects operating at a trans-European level, so that we generate the collective expertise we need to have the EU run in a democratic way with the ’European know-how’ spread throughout society and not only in a handful of bureaucratic structures and consulting firms,
  • to encourage organizations which employ people (companies, public institutions, associations) and the operators providing lifelong learning services to make “European opportunities” similar to those offered to the younger generation accessible to all Europeans during their lifetime.

4. Newropeans does not support any ’European Education Policy’ through which the European level would control or influence the content and process of education in Europe. These are national, regional or local competencies. It would be a threat to democracy and diversity to have a single power running, or having a major influence on the content and methods of education for 500 million people coming from very different cultures.

5. Newropeans, however, is convinced that a “European policy in the field of education”, a series of future oriented and flexible programmes and projects, is vital for the democratic future of the EU. 20 years after the launch of the Erasmus programme, the key issue is to transform this breakthrough into a series of routes, which are adapted to people and objectives that are as varied as the EU is complex. It is nowadays about widening the Erasmus programme, diversifying it, and adapting it to new political, economic, social and cultural challenges for the European Union in the two next decades.

6. From our experience, which includes helping to launch Erasmus, we know that national or regional bureaucracies may have incentives to fight against trans-European programmes in the field of education – just like ministries of Education fought against the Erasmus programme in 1985 – 1987 because they did not want a European openness in their sector to prevent comparison, evolution and the breaking up of old structures. The same is likely to be true for some actors today. This is why the proposals of Newropeans contain sticks and carrots in order to reduce the ability of certain actors to block new policy initiatives.

7. This is why Newropeans suggests that the future European Government should assess the member states’ performance with regard to their European policies in the field of education. Every two years, a report should present quantitative results on how the member states are participating and enacting the currently run European programmes in the field of education (for suggestions see below). This report should be discussed in the European Parliament and made public so that citizens know which governments and countries are serious about providing their citizens with the best European opportunities; and those who are not.

Our proposals on a European Policy in the field of education are a first framework. In the next threeyears, the Education Network of Newropeans will develop and enrich the policy and will regularly propose improvements, which will be submitted to members’ votes.

Specific proposals: to give the European Union, citizens and leading staff able to manage it democratically and effectively

Six ideas for six simple programs to be proposed by Newropeans in the field of education:

A. The European Educational Central Criterion, E2C2

From 2010, each Member State should confront each year at least 10% of each of its new generation to other Europeans. Every two years, the European government will have to submit a report to the European Parliament, with a view to evaluate the results for each Member State benchmarked with this objective of 10%. This should be a public debate and the Parliament will establish a hall of fame for the most active countries that help their citizens to benefit from the European dimension. Two key trans-European tools: One tool, to reach the masses, should serve the democratisation of the EU by a better education to Europe for its citizens; the other, focused on the elite, should serve the democratisation of the EU by educating executives to the European dimension.

B. Future Euro-citizens by Education (FEE) Programme

Target: youth from 10 to 25 (secondary schools and above)

Objective: to train tomorrow’s Euro-citizens, by familiarizing them with other Europeans’ cultures, rendering Europe and its diversity natural to them, thereby offering the youth the fundamentals of the democratic intra-European dialogue (knowledge of each other, languages, etc...).

Methods: short journeys, exchanges, meetings (3 days minimum/1 week maximum)

  • Annual number: 500,000 young people
  • Budget: 500 millions euros over 5 years

C. European Executives Training (EXTRA) Programme

Target: Students

Objective: To train the future European executives so that they could manage companies, administrations, universities, media, NGO, research centres at the European level.

Methods: Integrated courses that could encompass at least 3 semesters in 3 different Member States.

  • Annual number: 50,000 students
  • Budget: 200 millions euros over 5 years

In addition to these propositions, which aim at secondary and students populations, two other propositions aim specifically at young people in primary schools.

D. LIfe Long European (LILE) :

This program intends to provide a European dimension to the whole of Member States’ life-long learning policies; it will be based on education and employment operators, such as public companies, associations and institutions. The objective is to enable year 50,000 citizens per year over 40 years to get their training in another country of the EU.

E. To encourage bilingual education and to generalize the teaching of a foreign language as of 4 year-old children by mobilising Member States and their regions

Target: children aged of 4 years and over.

Objective: to allow as soon as possible pupils to get an opening to Europe by teaching them another language and bringing them to another culture.

Methods:

1. encourage bilingual early child-hood care and school education, because young children do not have to “study” a language, but find a natural way to acquire this language and understand its culture – if they are exposed to it and need to use it, 2. use of foreign language assistants coming from the country of the language which is taught, 3. set up of a “exchanges service” of language assistants (Internet portal) in order to facilitate offers and meet demand, 4. encourage mutual recognition of diplomas for school and early childhood educators as well as education for "bilingual educators" 5. set-up of a ‘Hit parade’ of language teaching in primary schools (by region and by Member state).

F. To support the introduction in national handbooks of history in secondary schools of “compared visions” for large European historical events

Target: schoolchildren from 11 to 15.

Objective: sensitize European schoolchildren with the differences in national perceptions in Europe.

Methods: put into perspective various national visions reflected by current history books by comparing their interpretations of great historical events. E.g. Napoleonic wars, or how the invasion of various European countries is reported in French, German, English textbooks, etc…