EDUCATION: MAKING LIFELONG LEARNING A REALITY.

• Position: Brief Article

The European Parliament has called for firm targets for training for people who do not normally have access to learning opportunities after leaving school. The assembly approved a non-binding draft resolution by Kathleen Van Brempt (PES, B) on the Commission communication on Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality (COM(2001)678) on September 5. The Parliament commended the Commission's communication, noting that lifelong learning should be not merely a social necessity but should also be a social right for everyone. Two years after the Lisbon Summit, however, the assembly said little progress had been made in this area. The resolution called on the Commission and on the Member States to produce specific targets aimed at people who have not completed upper secondary education, unskilled workers, the illiterate, the unemployed, people with learning difficulties or special needs, the over-50s, immigrants and women following maternity leave.

The Member States were also urged to develop strategies to remove barriers to lifelong learning, particularly age barriers and to provide better funding for such...