EU education goals: A mixed picture in Eastern Europe
While some of the EU’s Eastern member states are confident about achieving the bloc’s 2020 education targets, others – Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania – may struggle to satisfy the European Commission’s expectations. EurActiv’s media network reports.
The agreed goals in the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy – reducing the share of early school leavers to 10% and making sure that at least 40% of 30-34 year olds have a degree or diploma by 2020 – are EU-wide averages. National targets are to be agreed with the European Commission, meaning that lower results in certain member states can be balanced out by above-average ones in others.
Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are leading the way when it comes to school dropout rates – all three are well within the EU-wide goal of 10% – although neighbouring Hungary could struggle to meet its national target of 8.4%, as proposed by the European Commission.