Graz, 9th/10th March 2000
Education and the Stability Pact:
Priorities, Funding and Partnerships in
South Eastern Europe
The latest developments in the Stability Pact efforts in education and youth were at the centre of discussion at the Graz meeting. Around 120 participants - bilateral, international and private donor institutions, experts from the region as well as government representatives - met to discuss priorities for action and possible forms of delivery in the framework of the Stability Pact. In his key note Mr. Donald Kursch, Deputy Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact, Working Table 1, stressed the importance of education and youth for the overall efforts of the Stability Pact and highlighted the need for long-term investment to ensure sustainable reform, combined with quick start projects in response to urgent needs.
The first session of the Graz meeting provided an overview of key priorities for 2000/2001 of the six working groups (Higher Education, Vocational Education and Training, General Education Policy and System Improvement, Young People, Education for Democratic Citizenship and History/History Teaching). Over the last months the working groups (mixed teams of representatives of international institutions and regional experts) identified priority areas and evaluated over 150 projects, submitted to the Task Force since the Working Table 1 meeting in Geneva, October 1999. In line with the basic philosophy of the Enhanced Graz Process the action plans focus on: a regional approach, regional ownership, building on existing expertise and networks, thus providing an added value with regard to existing programmes.
The second panel was dedicated to the situation of education and youth in Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo, prepared by experts from the region with the assistance of OSI, UNICEF and UNMIK. The current situation in Serbia is mainly characterised by the effects of the deep political and economic crisis during the last decade, reinforced by UN sanctions and economic isolation. It has led to the impoverishment of the population and a marked lack of investment in the educational sector. As a consequence, the majority of school buildings are in a bad condition. There is no or only expensive access to modern teaching equipment. Teacher salaries are low, leading to a massive brain drain. Due to the centralisation process of the education system and the lack of support from the international community the scope of local or grassroots initiatives for reform is limited. Mr Vigor Majic, Director of the Petnica Science Center, finished his presentation with a plea for the inclusion of Serbia in the reform efforts of the Stability Pact.
Equally, Montenegro has to cope with the effects of the disintegration process of the region and the challenges of social, political and economic changes in the face of lacking investments and reform. Therefore the Montenegrin Ministry of Education has now started a national project of continuous innovations in education focusing on:
- improvement of the general conditions for teaching and learning
- achieving the educational standards of EU member states
- providing better quality teaching,
- development of new curricula, textbooks, teacher training
- introducing a system of quality assurance.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. Damjanovic, stressed the need for financial support and co-operation with other countries and expert institutions in order to realise this ambitious project and to link the country with international discussions.
In the case of Kosovo the key problems centre around the immediate effects of the war - infra-structural (damaged school buildings, lack of heating, sanitation, facilities, teaching equipment) as well as psychological (traumatised children and adults). As much as is already being done by UNMIK and numerous NGOs, especially with regard to the reconstruction of school buildings, supply of teaching equipment, teacher training etc., principle reforms and improvement of the educational system need a long-term commitment, effective structures as well as a good balance between Kosovar experts and the international community. As Mr Daxner, representative of UNMIK, pointed out: ”The existence of the parallel system in particular reflected a need for the survival of an education system rather than its development.”
The meeting also provided the opportunity to get detailed information on several key projects, which were presented in special working group sessions on Friday (cf agenda). Projects ranged from support to the Alternative Academic Network in Serbia (Post-graduate Gender Studies), stock-taking on access to education of Roma children in SEE, new approaches to History Teaching to fighting corruption among Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – thus reflecting the wide scope of action covered by the Enhanced Graz Process. Presentations convincingly demonstrated creativity, innovation and expertise in the field of education in the region. International and regional participants discussed the implementation of the projects and possible perspectives for closer co-operation in the near future.
The key panel on Friday focussed on the question of delivery within the framework of the Stability Pact. The panellists were George Soros (OSI), James Socknat (World Bank), Klaus Schumann (Council of Europe), Donald Kursch (Stability Pact) and the moderator Slavko Gaber (former minister of education, Slovenia).
As education needs long-term efforts to ensure a sustainable impact on the region the issues of long-term strategy, education policy and system improvement were put at the centre of discussion. In this context the panellists described the Enhanced Graz Process as an effective and well-organised, bottom-up working process to promote educational reform and initiatives both from the region and from international expert institutions. However, clarification is still needed as far as strategy, working mechanisms of the Stability Pact and the Task Forces, the division of responsibility and the role of the EC are concerned.
General concern was expressed that a crucial stage has been reached. A clarification of funding sources and instruments as well as the innovative development of new partnerships is urgently needed - long-, mid- (bridging) and short-term - as an indispensable precondition for a successful start of the education and youth reform efforts. The regional funding conference of the Stability Pact at the end of March should thus be seen as a ”moment of truth” concerning the ”quick start” financial commitment of member states and institutions of the Stability Pact. Although long-term financial support for the region has been indicated the final confirmation as well as interim funding are still lacking. Pledges are expected at the Stability Pact funding conference in Brussels, several European countries (The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, among others) have announced significant funding.
The conference was concluded by donor responses to the priorities of the Enhanced Graz Process and an overview of the commitment of international, bilateral and private donor institutions. The international institutions stressed both their financial commitment and their expertise in the region. Institutions such as UNESCO/CEPES, and UNICEF stated that they will further concentrate on educational issues in the year 2000. UNICEF indicated that about 30 Million USD of its budget are foreseen for activities in the field of education. UNDP and the International Red Cross stressed their interest in co-operation between their work in the field of development and humanitarian issues and education.
The representative of the European Commission underlined the role of the EC in the field of education in SEE through its large education co-operation programmes (e.g. Sokrates, Leonardo, Youth for Europe, Tempus) and through its stabilisation and association process providing a political development perspective for SEE countries. The EC has been actively involved in the Enhanced Graz Process since its beginning and is particularly committed to the area of Higher Education.
On the bilateral side, e.g. by Finland, Hungary, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the USA, great interest in educational reform in SEE was shown. The Swiss commitment in the region, for example, will amount to about 200 Mio Swiss Francs for 2000/2001, (additionally 27 Mio Swiss Francs are reserved for the Stability Pact, approximately half will be committed to Working Table I).
The USA will concretise the amount of financial support at the regional funding conference in Brussels. Special attention is paid to Education for Democratic Citizenship, Regional Centres of Excellence and History Teaching, e.g. a board of eminent historians is envisaged as an umbrella for the entire initiative in the field of history, which interested donors are invited to join.
Foundations work on the expert- as well as on the funding level, as e.g. the European Cultural Foundation or the Soroptimists clearly showed. They contribute to the activities of the Enhanced Graz Process with their expertise in education and focus on issues, such as civil society, culture, gender, youth etc. and regional networking.
Madlen Serban, regional co-chair of the Task Force, underlined in her conclusions the success of the Graz meeting. She emphasised mainly the establishment of new funding partnerships and co-operation networks. Given the importance of the involvement of both international as well as regional and local actors, it is essential to improve the flow of information, to enhance their involvement in the Stability Pact, and to ensure mechanisms of ownership in order to secure accountability.
As the participants of the Graz meeting repeatedly underlined, the Stability Pact Financing Conference at the end of March will be a crucial but only one further step in the long-term process to establish stability and reforms in South Eastern Europe.