EDUCATION AT EUROPEAN STANDARDS

Prof. Sipea Elisabeta Catalina

Liceul “Matei Basarab”, Craiova

The world has realized that the economic success of the states are directly determined by the
quality of their education systems and that the most effective factor of production is human capital
expressed in knowledge, skills, creative abilities and moral qualities of individuals in society.
The specialists consider that in the economy of the 21st century the education system
became a priority branch of production, being regarded as an occupational field, as a profitable
investment sphere. This conception concerning the mission of education will dominate the
educational policy of most countries in the world in the next period.
Improving the quality of the education and training systems is one of the core components of
the cooperation between Member States by creating academic networks, study visits and
partnerships. The communication from the Commission of the European Communities1 emphasizes
the role of universities and research programs in the Europe of knowledge.
The cooperation regarding the policies in the education and training field began with the
adoption of the White Paper on education and training "Teaching and learning - Towards a Learning
Society", by which the European Union defines itself as moving toward a learning society based on
acquiring new knowledge and lifelong learning.
The technological revolution is contributing to the greatest development of the day which is
transforming the Earth into a world village. If before, the images and the messages needed days and
weeks to cross the oceans, today it occurs in fractions of a second. One of the impacts technological
revolution was to highlight the priority intelligence, education and training, in other words, human
capital formation.
The evolution of science and technology takes place at an accelerated pace. New
information and communication technologies have an increasing influence on education, on the
organization of educational institutions, on the role of the teacher and his / her relations with
students, on development of student autonomy.
In today's Europe, there is a risk of weakening social cohesion and it has many causes,
including the unemployment of one part of the population and especially the young, the distrust of
the population in democratic institutions, nationalism, corruption, violent conflicts that take place in
some parts of the continent and the rising gap between the rich and the poor. That is why there is the
question of strengthening social cohesion that is necessary at different levels, in particular to
guarantee equality for all citizens in terms of access to education, social dialogue between different

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groups and nations, the active participation of all citizens in social, economic and cultural life as
well as decision-making processes. In the countries of Europe, societies are very diverse due to the
presence different ethnic and cultural minorities and immigrant communities, as well as increased
mobility of people. This growing diversity is not without risk, as life becomes more complex, social
relationships become more diverse, and school has to face the presence of foreign students and also
an increased violence.
All of this has led to the fact that, at present, European education strategies are primarily
geared towards education in the spirit of democratic citizenship and social cohesion. Education
systems have to cope with various challenges, developments and issues related to the field of
education itself, as well as by society as a whole. Under these conditions, the role of education is
increasing a factor contributing decisively to social cohesion.
Education can contribute in various ways to democratic citizenship and social cohesion.
Education for active and conscious citizenship begins at school and continues throughout life by
promoting the following fundamental values: insertion, not exclusion; tolerance, not predisposition
to conflict; sense of responsibility, not passivity; reason and objectivity, not subjectivity and
irrationality.
Being convinced of the importance of investing in people through education,
education experts have debated the issue of education in the European Union's governing forums
with a view to young people's personal development, vocational training and integration into the
economic and cultural life of society.
The priorities pursued through cooperation are: strengthening the European
dimension in education and training; recognition of skills and qualifications; ensuring the quality of
education.
The European strategic objectives in education and training are:
 Goals on access to education: - extending access to education and reducing dropout;
improving access to education and training for disadvantaged people.
 Objectives on basic skills, entrepreneurship and foreign languages: developing the necessary
skills in a knowledge society (communication in the mother tongue, in international
languages, information and communication technology skills, civic and interpersonal skills,
entrepreneurship, cultural awareness); developing entrepreneurship; improving language
learning.
 Objectives on counseling and professional orientation: creating a European area of
development and training by providing lifelong professional counseling; creating
competitive counseling and professional guidance policies; increasing professional
counseling and guidance services; entertainment of access to these services.

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  Objectives on entrepreneurship education: the introduction of entrepreneurial education into
the national curriculum; expansion of the entrepreneurial area at the level of higher
education; involvement of entrepreneurs and local companies in the development of
educational activities; training teachers; developing entrepreneurship: initiative, creativity,
risk.
 Equal opportunities objectives: promoting equal opportunities for women and men in
economic, social life, in the exercise of rights; facilitating the social integration of young
people; support for the social integration of people with disabilities (with disabilities).
 Objectives concerning the training of trainers: improving education and training for trainers
and teachers; increasing the quality of education for the training of teachers and trainers;
developing a common European framework for the skills and qualifications of teachers and
trainers; the initial qualitative teacher training; developing a culture of professional mobility;
continuous professional development; promoting the European dimension in research and
information training.
 Objectives on new information and communication technologies – ICT: ensuring
accessibility to ICT infrastructure; teaching young people's basic digital skills; form
teachers, administrators and school directors; integration of ICT in school curriculum.
 Continuing training objectives: transforming the concept of continuous training into reality
by multiplying the opportunities for continuous training; secure access to continuous
training; recognition and validation of non-formal and informal training.
The European Commission debated the European Qualifications Framework and
recommended that each member country establish the National Qualifications Framework in line
with the European one, following eight levels of learning outcomes for the categories: knowledge,
skills, general competencies, professional skills.
Educational factors - family, school, university, media, cultural institutions, the Internet - can
and must be involved in shaping European consciousness and conduct.
Educational agents - parents, teachers, mentors - must have the necessary training to
encourage children and young people to assimilate the values of national and European culture and
civilization, to know and respect the values of non-European cultures and civilizations.
Children and young people must understand and accept that the acquisition of European
citizenship means adhering to the values to promote and respect them, that being European is also
going to Europe and bringing Europe home through their own performances, behaving as
representatives of nationalities or the ethnicities to which they belong, but in the European spirit, to
think European, preserving their national identity. They need to be trained in order to know their
rights and obligations, in order to face professional competition, in order to assert themselves in

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conditions of competitiveness.
The general goal is to raise awareness of European identity in consonance with national
identity and the acquisition of European citizenship on the basis of national citizenship. General
purposes are: the orientation of Romanian education through its structure, content, forms of training
and evaluation organization, training and education methodology, assessment methodology,
compatibility with the education of EU countries (formal education); creating extra-curricular
opportunities for knowing and using ways to connect with the exigencies of the EU's economic,
political and cultural space (non-formal education); the orientation of cultural policy towards
strengthening a cultural model that accepts differences, a multicultural model that does not exclude
interaction with other non-European models (informal education).
We set out the main strategic objectives: reforming the structure of the education system -
types, profiles, specializations to European standards; adapting the curriculum (plans, programs,
manuals) from the perspective of European values; preparation and improvement of the teaching
staff for the realization of the instructive-educational activity at European qualitative levels;
Creating a climate favorable to formal, non-formal and informal debate on issues related to
effective integration into the family of European Union countries; creating and promoting study
opportunities in the countries of the European Union; ensuring school and university education of
pupils and students in relation to European requirements; ensure initial and continuing professional
training in relation to European requirements.
The policies and strategies for quality assurance in the Romanian national education system
will be permanently correlated with the guidelines and actions promoted at European and world
level. The Ministry of Education, through the promoted policies and specific strategies for their
implementation, provides the framework for achieving the qualities of the educational services, all
efforts being concentrated on increasing the quality and compatibility of the Romanian education
system with the European system, but for the reform strategy the Romanian education system has to
be truly successful, it is necessary for it to take into account all levels of education, from pre-school
to post-graduate.
BIBLIOGRAFIE

1. Militaru c., “Politici în domeniul calităţii educaţiei la Nivelul uniunii europene”, Volumul II,
Nr. 1/Martie 2011
2. Militaru c., (2005), „Modele de excelenţă în educaţia europeană” în „provocările cunoaşterii în
contextul integrării europene”, Bucureşti, Editura Fundaţia România de mâine.
*** - Jurnalul oficial al UE, Concluziile Consiliului privind internaţionalizarea învăţământului,
26.05.2010.

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*** www.europa.eu