High-level expert group to advise the Commission on education and training
A high-level group of leading experts from the education and training sector has been set up to assist the Commission in the development on its policies in this area, in particular in view of the preparation, by the Commission, of a White Paper on Education and Training due to be presented by the end of the year. The members of the group, recently approved by Edith Cresson, Commissioner responsible for research, education and training, held their first meeting, in Brussels, on 21 September 1995. The remit of the group covers the following main areas: - Education and training in a knowledge-based society and economy, taking in all aspects of education, including pre-school and adult education; - Clearer identification of needs, in terms of training and skills, in an increasingly competitive society requiring new forms of work; - The importance of learning at all levels against a background of European-scale mobility; - The contribution of the new information technologies and multimedia systems to education, including initial and continued training, with special reference to the development of educational software; - Education and training for the information society; - Implementation of flexible systems for validating acquired skills; - "Second-chance" educational establishments; - Development of networks linking universities, training centres and undertakings with a view to enhancing the dissemination in Europe of best experience of education and training; - The definition of European "masters" in certain disciplines on the basis of inter-university agreements and teacher mobility; - Contribution to the "targeted socio-economic research" and "training and mobility of researchers" programmes under the fourth Framework programme; - The international dimension. The group, which has a two-year mandate, will be chaired by Jean-Louis Reiffers, Professor of Economic Science at the University of Aix, Marseille, France. A full list of members is given in the text field of this article.