Education and training are crucial to economic and social change. The flexibility and security needed to achieve more and better jobs depend on ensuring that all citizens acquire key competences and update their skills throughout their lives.
Lifelong learning supports creativity and innovation and enables full economic and social participation. That is why the Council set itself ambitious objectives in the Education and Training 2010 work programme. In turn, these support the achievement of the Lisbon guidelines for jobs and growth.
These objectives can only be achieved by sustained long term effort. Inevitably, progress will be uneven. It is to identify achievements and to direct effort to areas that are proving more difficult that the Council and the Commission prepare a joint report every second year.
This contribution to the 3rd Joint Report points to significant progress and challenges in education and training reforms. [extract]
Reference: 2008 joint progress report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the Education and Training 2010 work programme Delivering lifelong learning for knowledge, creativity and innovation OJEU C 86, 5.4.2008, p. 131