European survey on attitudes to education and training
Rapid changes currently taking place in society and the workplace led the European Union to designate 1996 as the European Year of Lifelong Learning (EYLL). The European Year forms part of the Community's follow-up to the European Commission's 1993 White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness, Employment. It is also providing scope for a global discussion on the Commission's White Paper "Learning and Training: Towards the Learning Society", which was published in November 1995. Within the context of this European Year, the first ever Eurobarometer survey on Europeans' attitudes to education and training was undertaken during the last quarter of 1995. A total of 19,308 people throughout the 15 member states of the European Union participated in this survey. One of the most important results to emerge from the survey is the high level of interest among Europeans for the concept of lifelong learning. As many as 70% of people questioned said they would like to continue learning or training throughout their lives. Indeed, over half of all Europeans questioned (56%) are of the opinion that continual education and training has become a necessity. A summary of the results of the Eurobarometer survey on attitudes to education and training is available on the EYLL WWW homepage at: http://www.transcend.co.uk/eyll/survey.htm This includes a review of the most important findings at a pan-European level, an illustration of some of these results in graph form, and notes with specific results on each country.