Keywords
Citation
(2001), "Shorter schooling periods in central and eastern Europe", Education + Training, Vol. 43 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2001.00443bab.020
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited
Shorter schooling periods in central and eastern Europe
Shorter schooling periods in central and eastern Europe
Keywords: Schools, Eastern Europe
Higher-education participation rates in the central and eastern European countries which have applied for EU membership are generally lower than in the EU member states, according to figures published by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office. Among the 18-24 age group, the higher-education enrolment rate in the EU is 23 per cent. Only Slovenia (25 per cent), Estonia (23 per cent), and Lithuania, Latvia and Bulgaria (22 per cent each) approached this figure.
The Eurostat figures also show that fewer children attend nurseries in the candidate countries and compulsory schooling is generally shorter than in the EU. The predominance of English as a foreign language, the tendency for boys rather than girls to follow vocational courses and the rising percentage of girls in higher education, especially in humanities, applied arts, teacher training and medicine, are features common to all European countries. The candidate countries involved are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.