TUAC - TRADE UNION ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE OECD

05/11/2010

Education Ministers and high representatives from OECD member countries and partner countries met in Paris on 4 -5 November in order to discuss the vital role education and training systems play in preparing societies and economies for the future.

Ministers gave particular attention to four key challenges:

• (i) tackling the effects of the crisis on education;
• (ii) matching skills to new needs;
• (iii) equipping effective teachers for the 21st century; and
• (iv) reinforcing the social benefits of education.

The meeting was chaired by the Austrian Minister of Education, Ms. Claudia Schmied. According to her summary, Ministers agreed “that sustainable economic recovery and social progress rests upon maintaining adequate levels of investment in education and training”, while budget constraints would require efforts to improve the effective use of limited resources. Minister also emphasised that education is a public good.

With regard to the challenge of matching skills to new needs, Ministers agreed to a demand made repeatedly by trade unions, namely that governance structures and incentive systems in vocational education and training “must ensure that all actors and institutions involved in education and the labour market work effectively together and adapt efficiently to changing needs.”

Ministers recognised that teachers are the key professionals in education systems and thus education policy needs to focus more on “high quality teacher training and professional development, particularly in initial teacher training, teacher induction and early teaching support”. They also emphasised that education must go beyond a focus on employability.

The Chair’s Summary is attached.