Practices
Practices
Practices
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Chapter 4: Early School Leaving (ESL)<br />
In June 2010 the European heads of state and government adopted the<br />
Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.<br />
Early school leaving and its consequences for the individual, society and economy<br />
hamper smart and inclusive growth. Reducing the share of early school leavers to less<br />
than 10% Europe-wide by 2020 is therefore one of the headline targets underpinning<br />
the Europe 2020 strategy. In addition, the Member States agreed to set specific<br />
national targets.<br />
Early school leaving is a serious problem both for individuals and society. Nearly 13%<br />
of all 18 to 24 year olds in the EU finish their education and training with only lower<br />
secondary education or less. That means that one in seven young people faces an<br />
increased risk of being unemployed or in precarious employment, of being in poverty<br />
and in poor health, and is more likely to depend on social benefits throughout life. It<br />
also means that European societies and economies currently lose out on<br />
approximately six million young people who could otherwise contribute to Europe's<br />
social and economic development. There are many reasons why some young people<br />
give up education and training prematurely: learning difficulties, social problems or a<br />
lack of motivation, guidance or support, etc. The impacts of individual and social<br />
conditions are also affected by the set-up of the educational system and the<br />
environment in individual schools.<br />
Therefore tackling early school leaving is the responsibility of many actors at different<br />
levels: from policy makers to schools, teachers, parents and the local community.<br />
At EU policy level, in June 2011 the Education Council adopted a Recommendation on<br />
policies to reduce early school leaving. It defines a common understanding of<br />
evidence-based and comprehensive policies to reduce early school leaving and is one<br />
of the tools to help Member States reducing their early school leaving rates. Following<br />
this, Member States started to exchange their practices and knowledge on the most<br />
effective ways to combat early school leaving.<br />
At EU programme level, Comenius has supported local and regional authorities,<br />
schools, teachers, research and training centers and parent's efforts to fight ESL at<br />
field level. In the following pages we have included only a sample of many projects<br />
that have had worked at school level in specific strategies such as identification of<br />
early warning signals, provision of specific competences and tools for teachers,<br />
development of career guidance services, motivation of students and teachers, health<br />
at schools , transition from different educational levels and cross-sectoral cooperation.<br />
The benefits and impact of participating in the projects have been felt at individual<br />
level (students, teachers) but also at institutional level (schools) that will ensure the<br />
sustainability of the results and the willingness to continue working to reduce the<br />
problem.<br />
To learn more:<br />
http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/childhood_en.htm<br />
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