EDUCATION : HIGH-LEVEL EXPERT GROUP TO COMBAT ILLITERACY.

A high-level expert group set up by the European Commission has begun work to determine the most effective policies for combating illiteracy(1) in Europe. Chaired by Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, a UNESCO special envoy on literacy, and made up of eleven specialists from academia, politics and business, the group held its first meeting on 1 February in Brussels. Its objective is to give visibility and political importance to the issue of raising literacy levels in Europe and to analyse scientific evidence(2).

The high-level group will meet regularly over the coming 18 months and will present policy proposals to the Commission in mid-2012. Based on the group's proposals, the Commission will present recommendations to education ministers in autumn 2012. On this basis, member states and the Commission will take the issue further as part of their strategic cooperation framework on education and training (Education and Training 2020).

The target established by EU ministers is to achieve fewer than 15% of low performers in reading, maths and science by 2020. The latest results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that one in five students, or 20%, has low reading skills. This signals a slight improvement in Europe since 2000. Moreover, almost 80 million adults in Europe - a third of the workforce...

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