At the EU education ministerial conference, held in London on 12-13 July, UK Education and Skills Secretary Ruth Kelly who chaired the meeting said that “we must refocus education on making an impact on our economies but, just as importantly, on our societies and the lives of our citizens.”

To achieve the Lisbon goals through education, the British presidency of the Education Council aims to:

• highlighting the contribution that investment in skills can make to raising productivity
• promoting innovative approaches to employer engagement in sector skills development
• developing world-class higher education
• delivering effective learning using ICT

The UK presidency aims to make ‘skills’ a key theme. Discussion at the July ministerial meeting in London aimed to show how skills and qualifications policy can contribute to the Lisbon agenda, including the relationship of skills to productivity, mobility and skills gaps, for example through the development of a European Qualifications Framework (EQF).

Ms Kelly said the UK Presidency welcomes the European Commission’s EQF initiative which will facilitate the mobility of European citizens and address skill gaps in many parts of the EU.

In her keynote speech at the ministerial meeting she mentioned that “equipping those who have missed out on education with basic skills gives them much greater opportunities for employment and opportunities to improve their quality of life as well”.

ICT skills
Developing ICT in education is also a way to achieve Lisbon goals in education and training. This will be highlighted at the Xchange 2005 Conference on 17-19 October 2005. Xchange will be a core event in the UK Presidency as regards to ICT in education. The conference is organised by Becta, the Department for Education and Skills in England, the Department of Education Northern Ireland, Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Welsh Assembly Government.

The UK presidency will also feature a series of key education events:

12-13 July: QEII Centre, London Informal Ministerial Meeting
13-14 July: QEII Centre, London Meeting of Directors General of Vocational Training
16-17 Sep: Norwich Adult Learning Conference
22-23 Sep: Glasgow Conference on European Qualifications Framework
9-11 Oct: Manchester Higher Education Conference
11-12 Oct: Manchester Meeting of Directors General of Higher Education
18-19 Oct: Birmingham Xchange ICT Conference – Becta/ICT in Schools
24-28 Oct:  Cardiff Youth Conference & Meeting of Directors General for Youth
14-15 Nov: Brussels Education, Youth and Culture Council
29 – 30 Nov: South Wales Mobilising Experience: Sharing best practice in EU Education, Training and Youth programmes.

Links:
Commission/Kok High Level Expert Group: Facing the Challenge - The Lisbon strategy for growth and employment (November 2004):
http://europa.eu.int/growthandjobs/pdf/2004-1866-EN-complet.pdf

Presidency general priorities (European Parliament, 23/06/05)
http://www.eu2005.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1119518580438

Education, Youth and Culture - Presidency Priorities
http://www.eu2005.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1115141565820

Ruth Kelly, Chairman of the EU Education council, UK Minister for Education and Skills
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2005_0076

Xchange 2005:
http://www.xchange2005.com