Commission calls for more investment in education and training

Citation

(2003), "Commission calls for more investment in education and training", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 27 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeit.2003.00327fab.003

Commission calls for more investment in education and training

Commission calls for more investment in education and training

Growth, job creation, competitiveness and research are threatened in Europe because of EU member states' low levels of investment in education and training, the European Commission warns.

Its paper on "Investing effectively in education and training: an imperative for Europe" shows that the proportion of gross domestic product spent on education currently varies from 8.4 per cent in Sweden to around 3.5 per cent in Greece, Spain and Italy.

Greek Education Minister Petros Efthymiou said European countries should aim to spend at least 5 per cent of their national wealth on education.

The commission says that existing education budgets are not always being spent wisely. It calls for more effective targeting of funds on teacher training, basic skills, information technology and lifelong learning. It also urges member states to reduce the proportion of pupils who leave secondary education without formal qualifications and to cut graduate unemployment.

The commission invites member states to consider: reviewing and increasing public investment where necessary; encouraging greater private investment in education and training to supplement public investment; reviewing curricula; promoting quality assurance; and promoting the mutual recognition of qualifications.

Mr Efthymiou said that the "brain drain" from Europe to the USA could not be tackled by simply financing more research. Education had to be improved from nursery level upwards, and better links created between higher education and other research institutions.

European Commission President Romano Prodi agreed that Europe's competitive position risked being eroded if the EU did not do more for research and innovation. He pointed out that Europe's largest companies carried out 40 per cent of their research outside the EU.

Mr Prodi said that while many talented Chinese and other Asian young people went to the USA to carry out research, they usually returned to their own countries afterwards. In contrast, Europeans who went to the USA to carry out research usually remained there. "If we continue like this, we are finished", he said.

"In Europe, we need high-level centres of excellence. Otherwise, in future, we shall never have the best brains here."