Annex — Draft Council Conclusions on indicators
and benchmarks for monitoring progress towards the Lisbon objectives
for education and training
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
HAVING REGARD TO
1. the Spring 2000 Lisbon European Council's
call for Europe's education and training systems to be modernised
in response to the demands of a knowledge-based economy and the
increasing socio-economic and demographic challenges confronting
the Union in a globalised world;
2. the March 2002 Barcelona European Council
conclusions, which set the overall goal of making European education
and training systems "a world quality reference by 2010"
and which, with that aim in view, endorsed a set of common
objectives for the improvement of those systems;
3. the detailed work programme on the follow-up
of those common objectives — generally referred to as the
'Education and Training 2010' work programme — which included
an indicative list of indicators to be used for measuring progress
towards the implementation of the thirteen concrete objectives
through the open method of coordination;
4. the Council conclusions of 5 May 2003,
which established a set of reference levels of European average
performance in education and training (benchmarks) to be used
as "one of the tools for monitoring the implementation
of the detailed work programme";
5. the Maastricht Communiqué of
14 December 2004, in the context of the Copenhagen process, which
made the improvement of the scope, precision and reliability of
VET statistics a priority, arguing that adequate data and indicators
are the key to understanding what is happening in VET and that
additional interventions and decision-making are required by all
parties involved;
6. the Bergen Communiqué of 19-20 May
2005, in the context of the Bologna process, which called for
comparable data on the mobility of staff and students, as well
as on the social and economic situation of students in participating
countries as a basis for future stocktaking;
7. the Council conclusions of 24 May 2005, which
invited the Commission to report back to the Council on 'progress
made towards the establishment of a coherent framework of indicators
and benchmarks for following-up the Lisbon objectives in the area
of education and training";
8. the Council conclusions of 19 May 2006, which
invited the Commission to report back to the Council on progress
in developing a European Indicator of Language Competence;
9. the Council conclusions of 13 November 2006,
which called on the Commission to devote "attention to the
development of the VET components within the coherent framework
of indicators and benchmarks";
10. the Council's key messages in the field of
education and training to the Spring 2007 European Council, which
emphasised that "educational policies and practices require
a stronger evidence base" and that "there is
a need to develop a culture of evaluation and research";
11. the Commission communication of 22 February
2007 entitled "a coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks
for monitoring progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education
and training 'which proposes 20 core indicators that the
Commission considers coherent with the policy objectives under
the 'Education and Training 2010' work programme;
TAKES NOTE of
the report on progress made in developing a European
Indicator of Language Competence, as outlined in the Commission
communication of 13 April 2007 entitled "Framework for
the European survey on language competences".
Considers that
The "Education and Training 2010" work
programme constitutes the strategic framework for the Council's
work in the field of education and training;
discussions on future policy orientations to follow
up on the "Education and Training 2010" work programme
are now beginning and should be stepped up in the years ahead;
identifying, defining and implementing a coherent
framework of indicators is an ongoing process, which must be synchronised
with the strategic framework provided by the 2010 work programme
and its eventual successor;
REAFFIRMS that
the development of new indicators shall fully respect
the responsibility of Member States for the organisation of their
education systems and should not impose undue administrative or
financial burdens on the organisation and institutions concerned;
periodic monitoring of performance and progress through
the use of indicators and benchmarks is an essential part of the
Lisbon process, allowing strengths and weaknesses to be identified
with a view to providing strategic guidance to the "Education
and Training 2010" work programme;
the five benchmarks adopted by the Council in May
2003 are of continuing relevance in guiding policy actions within
the 2010 work programme;
there is a need to continue to improve the quality
of data produced by the European Statistical System, in particular
to ensure valid, internationally comparable and, where appropriate,
gender-specific data;
there is a parallel need to continue to enhance cooperation
with other international organisations active in this field, in
order to improve international data coherence and comparability,
to avoid duplication and to satisfy EU data needs that cannot
be met within the European Statistical System (ESS);
RECOGNISES
the importance of concerted and continuous efforts
to develop a coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks in
close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission;
the Commission communication entitled "A
coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks for monitoring
progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training"
as an important step towards the establishment of such a framework;
that defining a coherent framework of indicators
and benchmarks is a continuous and consultative process, as regards
both the selection of new indicators and the definition of the
individual concrete indicators;
Accordingly INVITES THE COMMISSION
- to make use of, or further
develop, sixteen of the proposed core indicators, as outlined
below:
a) with regard to those indicators which can
largely be based on existing data and whose definition is already
broadly established,
- to make full use of the following
indicators:
— participation
in pre-school education
— early school leavers
— literacy in reading, mathematics and
science
— upper-secondary completion rates of young
people
— higher education graduates
— participation of adults in lifelong learning
— cross-national mobility of students in
higher education
— educational attainment of the population
- and to report back to the Council
in the event of any major new developments;
b) with regard to those indicators which can
largely be based on existing data and whose definition still needs
further clarification,
to submit to the Council, for further consideration,
information on the definition of the following indicators:
— special
needs education
— ICT skills
— investment in education and training
including their composition, data sources, costs
and other relevant technical specifications;
c) with regard to those indicators which are
still in the process of development in co-operation with other
international organisations;
- to pursue the development of
indicators on:
— civic
skills
— adult skills
— professional development of teachers
and trainers
- and to report back to the Council
in due course, in particular on the participation of EU Member
States and the coverage of EU data needs;
d) with regard to those indicators which are
still in the process of development and which would be based on
new EU surveys,
- to further examine the development
of indicators on:
— language
skills
— learning to learn skills
- and to report back to the Council
on the results in due course.
Before proceeding with any new surveys relating to
the indicators referred to in sections c) and d) above, the Commission
shall submit the relevant reports to the Council for consideration.
These reports should cover the following aspects, as appropriate:
- the political relevance of
the indicators;
- the detailed technical specifications of any
proposed new survey;
- the availability and relevance of existing data
at national level;
- the comparability of the data;
- a timetable for the development work to be undertaken;
- an estimate of the infrastructure required for
such development work and subsequent data collection, as well
as of the likely costs to be incurred by the Community and by
the Member States involved;
- appropriate management and support structures,
enabling Member States to be involved in methodological and development
work.
- to continue its work on the development of a
coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks, drawing on the
expertise of the Standing Group on Indicators and Benchmarks,
the Advisory Board on the European Indicator of Language Competence
and other relevant expert groups of national representatives,
and to report back regularly to the Council.
INVITES THE MEMBER STATES AND THE COMMISSION TO:
- closely cooperate in the development
and implementation of a coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks,
including the improvement of the statistical basis;
- work towards the objective that the indicators
in that framework should cover all Member States.
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