Swedish Minister for Schools and Adult Education pleased with EU agenda
Swedish Minister for Schools and Adult Education, Ingegerd Warnersson is pleased that areas from her ministry's portfolio are now appearing in the EU's agenda and she is looking forward to still further progress in that direction, she told CORDIS News. She highlighted the fact that as of 2000, adult education has its own programme area, Grundtvig, introduced at the second stage of the EU's Socrates educational programme. The Commission has also taken up principles and measures for implementing a strategy for lifelong learning, which is currently being debated at both European and national levels, she pointed out. 'I note with satisfaction that the issue of lifelong learning and adult education has increasingly come into focus within the EU over recent years. Sweden has long traditions as regards adult education, but much remains to be done to achieve the attitude to learning necessary for us to achieve the goal of lifelong learning for all,' she said. Mrs Warnersson is looking forward to the presentation of the Commission's action plan. A previous action plan, addressing eLearning was discussed at the Education Council in Brussels on 28 May. Ministers adopted a resolution outlining measures to which priority should be given in developing educational systems in Europe that are supported by modern information and communications technology. 'It is important that the Member States continue to work towards effective integration of IT into their educational systems and ensure that everyone, irrespective of their social, economic or geographical backgrounds has access to the new technology and learns to use it,' the Minister asserted. She drew particular attention to the case of teachers, who should, in Mrs Warnersson's opinion, have ongoing training in using new technology so that it may become a pedagogical tool in education. She added that the exchange of experience plays a vital role in demonstrating the potential of such technology. The EU could benefit from paying attention to aspects of the Swedish educational system, Mrs Warnersson believes. One such area is the Adult Education Initiative, 'an extensive programme that Sweden has implemented to give unemployed people and those with only a brief elementary education the opportunity to build up their knowledge as adults'. With regard to Presidency achievements in the field of education, Minister Warnersson is positive. She is pleased that the Council adopted a report on concrete future goals for educational systems in February, and that in May, ministers agreed to conclusions on a follow up report. The minister also pointed to the adoption of the resolution on eLearning under the Swedish Presidency and expressed her satisfaction at the taking up of the issue of recruitment to natural science and technical education during Sweden's Presidency. 'It was decided at the informal ministerial meeting in Uppsala, particularly against the background of demographic developments, that measures must be taken to stimulate recruitment to higher education and especially within the fields of natural science and technology. This is a necessity if we are to be able to meet the challenges facing our society,' she said.
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