EDUCATION COUNCIL : MEMBER STATES WANT LESS AMBITIOUS EDUCATION OBJECTIVES.

The EU's member states are not likely to adopt, during the next Education Council in May, the European Commission's proposal for six new education benchmarks. This was one of the conclusions of a public debate held during the Council meeting of education ministers, on 16 February, on the Union's new education targets for 2010-2020. Of the old' benchmarks, only one has been met by the member states (regarding the number of tertiary graduates in mathematics, science and technology)

Calling for the development of "evidence-based" policy, Czech Education Minister Ondrej Liska said the May Council conclusions will be based on the outcome of the ministers' 16 February debate. He said he expected to build consensus by May.

Voicing their "reservations" on the need to establish new targets, the ministers also...