Commission backs extension of school twinning via the Internet
A report encouraging the extension of Internet twinning programmes between EU schools was adopted by the European Commission on 4 June. The move will see young people participating in educational projects on topics such as language and culture with other schools via the Internet. The report was drawn up for the forthcoming European Council in Seville under the responsibility of Education and Culture Commissioner Viviane Reding. It proposes that by the end of 2006, each of the EU's 150,000 secondary schools should conclude an Internet twinning agreement with one or more schools in a Member State or third country. Commissioner Reding said: 'Use of the new communication technologies at school, development of digital literacy and joint modernisation of our education systems have become European Union priorities, and they regularly feature on the agenda of European Councils. 'By proposing a scheme to generalise Internet school twinning, as asked to do by the Barcelona European Council, the Commission is making a new contribution to ensuring that our European economies and societies make a successful transition to the knowledge economy,' she added. The Commission's report proposes the creation of an overarching framework to systematise school Internet twinning and ensure that every young European has the chance to take part in an online project with another school. The Commission has identified a number of targets which must be met before generalised twinning can be achieved: - public authorities in all Member States should aim to have an Internet-connected PC for every 15 pupils by the end of next year; - they should also provide an annual budget of between 1,500 and 10,000 euro for future twinning partnerships; - training should be provided to enable teachers to use the Internet and incorporate it into their teaching methods; - support services should be created to advise schools on twinning. The Commission has launched a number of initiatives, such as Netd@ys, over recent years to encourage schools to use the Internet for educational purposes. It also supports European Schoolnet, a network of 24 Education Ministers which has led to the creation of an education portal for schools in Europe.