Top-level warning on low-skills Europe

Education + Training

ISSN: 0040-0912

Article publication date: 1 November 2002

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Citation

(2002), "Top-level warning on low-skills Europe", Education + Training, Vol. 44 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2002.00444gab.012

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited


Top-level warning on low-skills Europe

"Imagine a situation in which the equivalent of the population of France was declared low-skilled. Imagine also a situation in which some of the countries currently seeking entry to the EU were found to have better average levels of education than the member states. This is not imagination – this is fact in the EU today."

These words of warning were at the heart of a challenge set by Johan van Rens, director of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), in an address to the European Parliament.

He warned that the EU is seriously underskilled and that plans for a Europe that is prosperous, competitive and socially fair would fail if the people of Europe were incapable of accepting the challenges and new demands of work.

"Some 34 per cent of 25-59 year-olds across Europe are categorized as low-skilled – the equivalent of the entire population of France", he said. "Since lower-skilled people receive less training than others, this situation will not change without direct action. Learning is essential to Europe's future and the EU needs to be an active force in ensuring that education and training keep pace with needs."

Cedefop's role is to bring together the results of work at national level so that member states can benefit from each others' experience. Online resources, publications and networking ensure that information flows across the EU and is available to feed into policy.

Johan van Rens told Euro-MPs how Cedefop plans to continue its work, particularly with the aid of the recently established Refer network, which has been created to provide a constant flow of information from EU member states for collation and analysis.

He warned: "What is done with this expanded knowledge base is ultimately down to decision makers such as the European Parliament and the relevant bodies in EU member states. The great danger, however, is that if the information is not acted on, the potential effects will be felt by large numbers of people across Europe in quite a negative way."

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