RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CONFERENCE


Recognising the Recommendations of the Austrian Presidency Conference "European Educational Co-operation for Peace, Stability and Democracy" held in Graz in November 1998;

Recognising the subsequent work of the Graz Process Task Force, and particularly the Recommendations of the five Preparatory Workshops organised in this framework;

Taking into account the Declaration of the European Ministers of Education (Budapest, 24126 June 1999) on the Kosovo crisis and post war regional development,. and the reference made to the work of the Graz Process in this document;

Following the launch of the Stability Pact in June 1999, and the decision taken at the first meeting of Table 1 on Democratisation and Human Rights (Geneva, 18/19 October 1999) to include education among the major priorities for action, for development within the framework of an enhanced Graz Process;

In view of the need to present a co-ordinated, concrete programme of educational reforms to Mr Max van der Stoel, Chair of Table 1, in Budapest, on 24 January 2000;

The participants present in Sofia agreed on the following goals

- Maximising the pivotal role of education in achieving sustainable regional development through its inclusion as a priority within the Stability Pact. Democratisation and respect for human rights needs a widespread understanding of the rights and responsibilities of European citizenship. Good neighbourliness and reconciliation can also be furthered through education.

- Furthering the key role of education and training in helping people to cope with change, and to respond flexibly to an uncertain labour market. Sustained economic growth is
impossible without a skilled and educated workforce.

- Working towards the creation of an inclusive European educational area that extends to all peoples in Southeastern Europe. Integration requires commitment and involves a learning process on all sides;

- Ensuring that investment in education and training is recognised as a long-term process, to be considered within a minimum ten year perspective, while recognising that short- term action is also necessary to meet immediate needs. This process requires the active support of national governments, non-governmental organisations and the international community, working together within a common framework to ensure sustainability and change from within.

- Taking collective responsibility for ensuring that the high expectations raised by the Stability Pact are met, especially given past experience of being left behind in the European integration process, of suffering the effects of war and inadequate reforms.

- Mobilising the necessary financial resources to meet these challenges both through increasing the level of funding from external donors and by encouraging increased expenditure on education at national level;

- Better orienting future external support. Action undertaken should be based on a clear identification of needs, be closely monitored and its impact evaluated. Experience has demonstrated that existing mechanisms have made valuable contributions in specific countries/areas/sectors/ or as pilot initiatives, but are not sufficient to bring about sustainable systemic reform in the prevailing conditions of severe economic weakness and political instability.

To reach these goals participants agreed upon following principles for action

- Ensuring equal access to education for all;

- Mainstreaming education for Roma and Sinti populations;

- Listening and responding to the needs identified by regional experts rather than offering a donor-driven perspective at all stages of the process (programming, implementation, evaluation etc.): the countries of the region are owners of the process;

- Developing mechanisms for systematically reviewing the present situation, as well as for monitoring and evaluating the impact of action undertaken, thus ensuring quality control and learning from past mistakes;

- Viewing education as a whole and ensuring links between the different parts of the system, e.g. secondary and higher education, general/vocational, formal/non-formal

- Ensuring sustainability and integration at systemic level of pilot actions undertaken, by building in support for appropriate multiplication mechanisms;

- Recognising the current realities and diversity between countries in the region and developing instruments which are sufficiently flexible to respond to rapidly changing needs;

- Enabling local actors to take responsibility for and thus ownership of the process.

Priority areas for action identified by participants:

- Cross cutting issues, cf. Action plans of Thematic Working Groups for specific recommendations

- The improvement of the systematic exchange of information through follow-up of the results of the forthcoming Feasibility Study concerning the establishment of a Southeastern Europe Cooperation Centre (SEE-ECC);

- Strengthening and improving teacher education, both initial and in-service, especially through its development at cross border and at regional level, given the paramount importance of teachers as change agents in the education process;

- Fostering mutually beneficial partnerships between educational institutions at all levels and the Community at large in which they are situated;

- Encouraging broad public debate on educational matters involving all stakeholders as part of the democratic transition process;

-Support to youth and student organisations in the region as key partners with the motivation, creativity and responsibility to carry through the transition process;

-The improvement of the management of educational institutions at all levels of the system, and of the capacity to manage change, encourage innovation and provide incentives for qualified staff, especially young staff, to remain within the system;

- Promoting language policy and learning as a source of mutual enrichment enabling citizens to respond to the opportunities and challenges presented by an increasingly inter- connected Europe;

- The opening up of EU and other education and training programmes/development of special initiatives to include the countries of Southeastern Europe and which enable the transfer of experience from countries more advanced in the transition process.

Action Plan and Recommendations for major priorities to be addressed for each key theme are included in the following pages.

The full results of the discussions of each Working Group will be made available to participants in due course and will be part of the final Conference documentation.