EUROPEAN REVIEW
ISSUE 40 - Page 10
‘Teachers need good
education too’ say Commission
THE
EUROPEAN COMMISSION HAS SET out its aims for teacher training up until
2010. Noting that ‘It is school teachers who mediate between a rapidly
evolving world and the pupils who are about to enter it’ they stress
the view of the Council of Ministers that ‘Education and training are
critical factors to develop the EU’s long-term potential for
competitiveness as well as for social cohesion’. Change has increased
the demands being put on the 6.25 million teachers in the Community and
the Commission document states that ‘Initial education cannot provide
teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary for a life-time of
teaching’. In other words lifelong learning is as necessary for
teachers as those that they teach.
This requirement is even more pronounced because the teaching
profession has a higher average age than others. In many Member States
over 40% of teachers are between 45 and 64 with 30% over 50. Retraining
is vital, says the Commission, both to update older professionals and
to encourage them to stay at work instead of retiring early, in line
with the targets for employment in the Lisbon declaration. While
allowing that education is the responsibility of individual countries
the EU feels that it can play a co-ordinating rôle as well as
providing funds through the new Lifelong Learning Programme and the
European Social Fund, and reviewing results. It describes the current
position as one of skills shortages and limited training
provision. Compulsory in-service development exists in only 11 EU
states and nowhere is this more than five days a year. New teachers
receive support in only half the countries and teachers asking for help
can expect assistance in just a third. The Commission wants to improve
the situation so that all teachers are well-qualified, receive
continuous professional development, can move within the EU as required
and work with all stakeholders such as teacher education institutions,
schools and work-based training providers.
