Phiren Amenca International Network was invited by the European Commission to contribute and participate in the European Education, Training and Youth Forum on the topic “Future priorities of the ET 2020 Strategic Framework for European cooperation in education and training”, which was organized by the European Commission on October 9-10, 2014 in Brussels. The Forum was a unique event bringing together policy makers, young people, civil society organizations and experts from the education and training sector with the aim of stocktaking and developing priorities for the EU education and training strategy (ET 2020 Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education in Training).
The Phiren Amenca coordinator Jonathan Mack participated in the conference, in particular in the workshop on promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship. Phiren Amenca stressed the issue of Roma inclusion in all educational policies with a strong emphasis on individual and community empowerment and participation. National and international voluntary service programs constitute a key tool of education and training for young people towards autonomy and the transition between education and the labour market and adulthood. The recently announced infringement procedure of the European Commission against Czech Republic for violating anti-discrimination legislation based on the continuous segregation and discrimination of Roma children in education constitutes a great success towards equity and inclusion. Moreover, Phiren Amenca highlighted the need to raise the recognition, participation and trust in Roma self-organizations, as providers and stakeholders of non-formal and informal education.
The conference included keynote speeches from Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, and Silvia Costa, the Chair of the Culture and Education Committee in the European Parliament. The Forum focused on the themes of innovation, the low-skills gap, a new generation of educators, recognizing and valuing competences and promoting equity, social inclusion and active citizenship. The Forum strongly highlighted the value of non-formal and informal education and the synergies to formal education. A recent European study on youth work was presented which was recently published.
Further info on the EU strategy on Education and Training 2020: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/general_framework/ef0016_en.htm
Youth Work Study: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/news/2014/20140219-youth-work-study_en.htm