EU High Level Group of Experts on Literacy/Final Report, September 2012 [antikvár]

EU HIGH LEVEL GROUP OF EXPERTS ON LITERACY > FINAL REPORT FOREWORD BY EU COMMISSIONER FOR EDUCATION, CULTURE, MULTILINGUALISM AND SPORT When the results from PISA, the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment, were published, it was a shock to realise that one in five of our IS-year-olds in the EU still has insufficient reading skills. Another matter of concern was the widening gender gap; girls are reading better and more than boys. For adults, the need for action is just as urgent. More than 73 million adults in the EU currently have low qualifications, and many of them do not have sufficient literacy levels to cope with the daily requirements of personal, social, and economic life. All this requires a call to action. Therefore I established on 1 February 2011 an independent High Level Group of Experts on Literacy, in order to look into literacy, how this has evolved, and examine the most effective and efficient ways to improve reading skills in Europe. I asked the Group to look at common success factors in literacy programmes and policy initiatives and to take into account the realities that people - young and old - face today, and the needs that come with modern technologies, such as 'Web 2.0' and smartphones. Indeed, we not only need to focus on a problem we have long considered as solved in Europe, but we need to rethink what kind of literacy tomorrow's Europe needs. I warmly thank the members of the High Level Group and their Chair, H.R.H. Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, for all the effort, knowledge and dedication they have brought to this work. I am confident that this report and its concrete proposals and recommendations will help EU Member States make their own policies more coherent, efficient and successful. This report is only a first step - it puts on the table a huge challenge not only to our education systems, but to our entire societies. But now the call to action is up to you, the readers of the report. Read it, think about it, act on it, spread the word and make good literacy for all a top priority in all Member States! ANDROULLAVASSILIOU EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR EDUCATION, CULTURE, MULTILINGUALISM, YOUTH AND SPORT