ECNAIS en het Europese onderwijs [oa]

ECNAIS heeft onlangs bij monde van haar voorzitter, Simon Steen, in Brussel gepleit voor een grotere zichtbaarheid van het bijzonder onderwijs.

Hij hield dit pleidooi op de jaarvergadering van EMIE, de European Meeting of Independent Education. De inbreng van Simon Steen kunt u hier lezen.

ECNAIS (European Council of National Associations of Independent Schools) is de Europese organisatie voor bijzonder onderwijs.

ECNAIS contribution to the annual European Meeting of Independent Education (EMIE) in Brussels 31 May 2010

1. ECNAIS is a Council of national associations of independent schools (North and South, East and West) and works as a network organization of member associations.

2. The basis of our work is the respect for the vision and mission of each member association of ECNAIS about the meaning of freedom of education in the daily life of their own schools.

3. As a NGO we lobby and advocate on a European level for room for plurality and pluriformity in the establishment of schools (religious, philosophical and pedagogical) in the different national education systems in Europe.

4. In the last year we have focused in our conferences (Sofia 2009; Helsinki/Stockholm 2010) and seminar (Rome, 2009) on the importance of values of the school itself. The awareness of their own values is an essential part of a stimulating culture of self-evaluation and quality development for independent schools.

5. There is a strong tendency in the policy of the EU (again!) to see education merely as an instrument of labour market policy in the perspective of strengthening a European knowledge based economy that can compete with worldwide operating economical markets in America, Asia and China.

6. European benchmarks for education can reduce the focus of schools to quality measurement for short term goals especially for language and mathematic teaching.

7. We have to be more aware that this process of ‘neutralization’ of education is going on and that the EU policy is part of it. As a result of that process independent schools can feel themselves more and more forced to minimize their own value based orientation. Because first of all they have to respond to the growing demands of the government as if they are privatized public schools.

8. We need to improve the visibility of the social capital, broader outcome and long-term results of independent schools. We also have to show how public schools can benefit from the added value of independent schools within the national school system.

9. It is necessary that we as different European organizations - which are all in favor of the independent schools - develop a new common strategy and actions to clarify the modern role of independent schools as a vital part of the civil society. By doing so we can avoid that we are acting from a defensive position.

10. ECNAIS wants to cooperate with our EMIE colleagues to publish a new EMIE declaration in 2010 about the contribution of independent schools to a plural and democratic Europe in the coming decade. We have to educate and prepare our students for Europe 2020. If we can learn something of the worldwide economic crisis it is that the future of Europe ‘is not all about economy stupid!’ but first of all about virtues.

Simon Steen, Chairman of ECNAIS