Introduction
Final
Report
Conference
Issues
Conference
Rules
Report 1
Participating
countries
EURYDICE
Glossary
Admission
to HE
Austria
Issues
Q&A
Bulgaria
Description
Issues
Q&A
Czech Republic
Description
Issues
Q&A
Estonia
Issues
Q&A
France
Issues
Q&A
Germany
Issues
Q&A
Hungary
Description
Issues
Latvia
Issues
Lithuania
Issues
Q&A
Netherlands
Issues
Q&A
Poland
Description
Issues
Q&A
Portugal
Description
Issues
Q&A
Slovakia
Description
Issues
Q&A
Slovenia
Description
Issues
Spain
Description
Issues
Sweden
Description
Issues
United Kingdom
Description
Issues
Seventeen Ministers of Education of the European Union and associated countries (Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom) expressed their readiness to participate in the electronic conference on the issue 'Examination and certification system at the end of the upper secondary general education'.
The main idea of this pilot project is based on our belief that a more direct, informal, flexible and rapid communication and exchange of views and information on most topical and crucial issues of common policy interest could have a positive impact on our education systems and their evolution.
They could also contribute substantially to a more effective decision making at the ministerial level and thus help encourage the process of creating a more comparable, compatible and high-quality education landscape in Europe.
We feel that this initiative is closely connected with the EURYDICE European Unit, with its provision of reliable and comparable information on the education systems. Moreover, the EURYDICE European Unit has provided us with the reference material on the topic of certification (selection and compilation of different existing texts or texts being currently in preparation) that will be of great help in running the electronic conference as well as evaluating its results. The reference texts are appended to this document (
Examinations at the end of upper secondary education and Admission to higher education in the European Union and the EFTA/EEA Countries).
As is mentioned above, 17 countries expressed their readiness to participate in the conference and appointed their national co-ordinators and experts to take part in it. Within the prolonged deadline ten of the above-mentioned countries sent us open questions raised during the implementation or development of the certification forms and methods in their country. Those main problems served as a basis for the selection of key issues for the electronic conference. These questions can be found in Chapter 2. Conference Issues.
All the basic rules (general and technical) for the progress of the electronic conference can be found in Chapter 3. Conference Rules.
The participating countries, national co-ordinators and experts can be found in Chapter 4. Participating countries, national co-ordinators and experts.
The conference conclusions and the report will be prepared by the previously-mentioned four countries (the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Slovenia) and will be available to the participants of the conference of the ministers of the EU and PHARE countries in Budapest (24 - 26 June 1999).
Hopefully, the evaluation of the results of the electronic conference will show a possible further development of the communication project launched by the electronic conference and the role that EURYDICE could play in it.
