Practices

Chapter 4: Early School Leaving (ESL)
In June 2010 the European heads of state and government adopted the
Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
Early school leaving and its consequences for the individual, society and economy
hamper smart and inclusive growth. Reducing the share of early school leavers to less
than 10% Europe-wide by 2020 is therefore one of the headline targets underpinning
the Europe 2020 strategy. In addition, the Member States agreed to set specific
national targets.
Early school leaving is a serious problem both for individuals and society. Nearly 13%
of all 18 to 24 year olds in the EU finish their education and training with only lower
secondary education or less. That means that one in seven young people faces an
increased risk of being unemployed or in precarious employment, of being in poverty
and in poor health, and is more likely to depend on social benefits throughout life. It
also means that European societies and economies currently lose out on
approximately six million young people who could otherwise contribute to Europe's
social and economic development. There are many reasons why some young people
give up education and training prematurely: learning difficulties, social problems or a
lack of motivation, guidance or support, etc. The impacts of individual and social
conditions are also affected by the set-up of the educational system and the
environment in individual schools.
Therefore tackling early school leaving is the responsibility of many actors at different
levels: from policy makers to schools, teachers, parents and the local community.
At EU policy level, in June 2011 the Education Council adopted a Recommendation on
policies to reduce early school leaving. It defines a common understanding of
evidence-based and comprehensive policies to reduce early school leaving and is one
of the tools to help Member States reducing their early school leaving rates. Following
this, Member States started to exchange their practices and knowledge on the most
effective ways to combat early school leaving.
At EU programme level, Comenius has supported local and regional authorities,
schools, teachers, research and training centers and parent's efforts to fight ESL at
field level. In the following pages we have included only a sample of many projects
that have had worked at school level in specific strategies such as identification of
early warning signals, provision of specific competences and tools for teachers,
development of career guidance services, motivation of students and teachers, health
at schools , transition from different educational levels and cross-sectoral cooperation.
The benefits and impact of participating in the projects have been felt at individual
level (students, teachers) but also at institutional level (schools) that will ensure the
sustainability of the results and the willingness to continue working to reduce the
problem.
To learn more:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/childhood_en.htm
67