Le chômage des jeunes atteint presque 23% dans l'Union, alors que plus de 2 millions d'emplois restent vacants. Face à cette situation, la Commission européenne présente «Repenser l'éducation», une nouvelle stratégie qui encourage les États membres à agir immédiatement pour garantir aux jeunes l’acquisition des aptitudes et des compétences requises par le marché du travail.
Cette stratégie appelle les Etats à se concentrer davantage sur les acquis de l'apprentissage, c'est-à-dire les connaissances, les aptitudes et les compétences acquises par l'apprenant.
La Commission rappelle que es compétences de base en lecture, en écriture et en calcul doivent encore être sensiblement améliorées, de même qu'il convient de développer les compétences entrepreneuriales et l'esprit d'initiative (voir notre actu du 22/11/2012).
Pour garantir une meilleure concordance entre l'éducation et les besoins des apprenants et du marché du travail, la Commission recommande une modernisation des méthodes d'évaluation et encourage l'utilisation de TIC et de ressources éducatives ouvertes dans tous les contextes d'apprentissage.
Cela s’accompagne par une actualisation des compétences des enseignants qui sont invités à se former régulièrement.
La stratégie appelle également les États membres à renforcer les liens entre les systèmes éducatifs et les employeurs, à introduire l'entreprise dans la salle de classe, et à permettre aux jeunes de découvrir le monde du travail par un recours accru à l'apprentissage en milieu professionnel. Parmi les autres mesures proposées, on citera notamment un nouvel objectif de référence en matière d'apprentissage des langues, des orientations sur l'évaluation et le développement de la formation à l'entrepreneuriat, ainsi qu'une analyse de l'incidence de l'utilisation des TIC et des RÉL dans l'enseignement et l'apprentissage.
Enfin, les États membres doivent améliorer la reconnaissance des certifications et des compétences, y compris celles acquises en dehors des systèmes d'éducation et de formation formels.
Plus d'informations sur la stratégie "Repenser l'éducation" sur le site europa.eu.

Ein inoffizieller Nichtangriffspakt sorgt dafür, dass Studenten immer besser bewertet werden.
Dass man in den meisten Fächern an den Universitäten oder Fachhochschulen gute oder sehr gute Noten bekommt, ist seit Längerem bekannt. Bei Absolventen aus Fächern wie BWL, Soziologie oder Psychologie, in denen 70 bis 90 Prozent mindestens mit einer Zwei im Abschlusszeugnis auf den Arbeitsmarkt entlassen werden, sind gute Noten für die Personaler in der Regel Voraussetzung – ohne dass diese aber in irgendeiner Form über Einstellung oder Nichteinstellung entscheiden. Es gibt wenige Ausnahmen wie Jura und Medizin. In den meisten anderen Fächern aber, zum Beispiel Pädagogik, Biologie oder Geografie, müssen sich Dozenten gegenüber ihren Studenten sogar fast schon dafür rechtfertigen, wenn sie für eine Hausarbeit oder ein Referat lediglich »befriedigend« vergeben. Mehr...

By Moskovskiye Novosti & The Moscow News. New effectiveness ratings for institutions of higher learning in Russia mean that some colleges have been put on a special list, one that describes them as “ineffective” by virtue of the subject matter they teach. Two famous humanities schools in Moscow have landed on this list, resulting in criticism of the Ministry of Education.
With Russian universities and various institutes continually failing to make their mark in international ratings, it seemed natural that the Ministry of Education would step in with corrective measures. Yet the ministry’s one-size-fits all system for ranking effectiveness has come under fire, and with good reason: higher education experts and students themselves believe that you simply can’t lump the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in with the Higher School of Economics, and so on. Read more...

Par Olivier Rollot. Oui ! Depuis plus d’un mois la disparition possible du programme Erasmus est régulièrement évoquée. La Commission européenne évoque en effet un déficit de 180 millions d’euros dans le budget du programme «Éducation et formation tout au long de la vie» (EFTLV) et de 90 millions pour, simplement, verser les bourses Erasmus de l’année en cours. Dans un communiqué publié le 27 novembre la Commission européenne a livré sa vision de l’avenir d’Erasmus. Si elle reste optimiste pour la fin 2012, elle l’est beaucoup moins pour l’année à venir alors qu’environ 270 000 étudiants devaient bénéficier du programme au cours de l’année universitaire 2012‑2013. Cette même année, le nombre d’étudiants Erasmus depuis le lancement du programme, il y a 25 ans, atteindra 3 millions. Voici un résumé de sa position sur un programme qui semble cristalliser les crispations actuelles sur le futur budget européen entre la Commission et les gouvernements.
Un problème de financement global
La Commission européenne explique qu'elle "avait proposé de fixer le budget total de l’UE pour 2012 à 132,7 milliards d’euros" alors que le budget final n'était que de 129,1 milliards. Elle rappelle également qu'elle a dû acquitter 5 milliards de "factures impayées, transférées du budget 2011, lui aussi sous‑financé". Un budget «rectificatif», proposé le 23 octobre, vise à combler les déficits. Suite de l'article...

By Press Association. The number of students in England applying to university has slumped by almost 10%, official figures have shown.
The latest UCAS statistics reveal that almost 12,000 fewer people living in England have applied to start degree courses in autumn 2013.
In total, 107,687 potential university students have already submitted their applications, the figures show, compared with 119,548 who had applied by this point last year, meaning there has been a 9.9% fall in applications comparing 2013 with 2012.
Students planning to start degree courses next autumn will pay tuition fees of up to £9,000 a year after the hike, which saw maximum fees tripled, was introduced this autumn. Read more...

By Martin Rees. How can UK universities become more globally competitive? At the graduate level, one way would be to follow the US, where a minority of universities have strong graduate schools.
Even though many British universities may offer masters courses in specific subjects, I believe the UK should concentrate graduate education at the PhD level and encourage alliances and clustering in specialised areas. Many academics bridle at this suggestion, so, in making it, it is important to emphasise that concentration of graduate education need not, especially in the humanities, entail an equivalent concentration of research – that is a distinction that is often conflated.
Many who teach in the best American liberal arts colleges are productive researchers and scholars, but if they have graduate students, these are based in another university.
* Lord Martin Rees is astronomer royal and emeritus professor of cosmology and astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. This is an extract from the pamphlet University Diversity: Freedom, excellence and funding for a global future published by the Politeia think-tank. He will be debating with Universities and Science Minister David Willetts on 12 December on whether British universities can keep ahead in a global future in connection with the recent launch of the Council for the Defence of British Universities, of which he is a member. Read more...

By Michael Gardner. Germany’s chief policy advisory body on higher education issues, the Wissenschaftsrat (WR – Science and Humanities Council), has criticised grading practice at universities. While grade averages between universities or between subjects vary considerably, there is too little spread at institution level within individual subjects, the WR argues.
“The mark you get on graduating depends not only on examination attainment but also on what you are studying and where you are studying it,” said WR Chairman Wolfgang Marquardt. The council, whose membership comprises politicians and leading representatives of higher education, evaluated all available data on exam results at German universities in 2010.
The WR also noted that a trend towards better grades being awarded that it had already identified in previous years appeared to be confirmed by the 2010 results, especially in the bachelor programmes, where four out of five students were awarded ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ marks. For example, taking the results for the old Diplom degrees that are being phased out, 98% of graduates from biology had ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ marks in the survey, and so did 97% in psychology. By contrast, just 7% of law students attained these marks. In the corresponding new bachelor programmes, the figures were 84%, 95% and 37% respectively. Bachelor degrees accounted for just under a third of all successful exams in 2010. Various reasons are given for the trend towards good marking at university level. Read more...

Europe has many hundreds of higher education institutions, renowned as centres of excellence around the world. However, higher education systems have traditionally been formulated at the national level. Increasing European integration is changing that, with the development of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) helping to reinforce the attractiveness of higher education in Europe.
The EHEA is a region with a world-class knowledge base and cutting-edge research facilities in internationally-renowned centres of excellence. This is what attracts hundreds of thousands of foreign students each year to study in Europe.
Increasing mobility and links between national higher education systems serve to reinforce this attraction. Foreign students coming to Europe can see for themselves the amazing diversity available to them (both inside and outside the university), while taking advantage of the smooth transferability of coursework, qualifications and research opportunities.

It has become a tradition. The series of four ACA European Policy Seminars is opened every year by the very popular event What’s new in Brussels? Recent developments and trends in European policies and programmes. 2013 will not be an exception to this rule.  The event, to take place on 24 January, is timely. The decision on the successor to the Lifelong Learning Programme, expected to be named Erasmus for All, will be imminent. The same goes for the Horizon 2020 scheme, the next in the series of EU research framework programmes. We will also be getting a preview of a new Commission Communication on policies for higher education collaboration with non-European countries. Updates will also be provided on the activities of the European Institute of Technology and on details of the Bologna mobility strategy. Former Dutch education minister Jo Ritzen will present his vision for “empowered European universities”.
Ritzen will not be the only luminary at What’s new in Brussels? There will also be high-ranking Commission staff, such as Director Jordi Curell, as well as the ever-entertaining and fact-rich Peter van der Hijden and Claire Morel. The view of important stakeholders will be presented by the European Student Union, the European University Association and the Polish National Agency for EU programmes. The national level is represented by Birgit Galler of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Registrations for the event are open now. EPS 1 2013 - What’s new in Brussels? Recent developments and trends in European policies and programmes.