Council of Europe Ministers of Education meeting in Helsinki: High quality education for all

At the 24th Standing Conference in Helsinki, Ministers of Education are outlining Council of Europe efforts in the educational sector in the near future. The conference theme is "Governance and Quality Education".

Opening the conference, Secretary-General Jagland said: ?Democracy cannot exist without good education and dedicated teachers. Finland is a world leader in this respect. This conference will help to share best practice in equality and inclusive education.?

Serving as Conference Chair, Minister of Education Jukka Gustafsson feels that the conference themes are vital to the future of Europe.

"High quality education and good governance lay the foundation for ensuring and developing human rights, a plural democracy and the rule of law. This foundation should be further strengthened through European co-operation", emphasises Gustafsson.

In his openingspeech, Minister Gustafsson stressed the importance of equality in the education system. A high quality education system will not discriminate against anyone, providing everyone with equal opportunities.

"I think it is important that we commit ourselves to further developing education and our national education systems in order to ensure that each and every member of society has access to a quality education. Every person will be given the knowledge and skills that allow them to actively participate as citizens and succeed in the jobs market.?

"The objectives of comprehensive education in Finland are closely aligned with the themes of the conference. It is very important to consider how education can most effectively foster the development of students as people and responsible members of society as well as provide them with the knowledge and skills they will need in life," explains Minister Gustafsson.

?The biggest challenge facing Finnish comprehensive schools is to establish a functional relationship between school and home," explains Speaker of Parliament, Eero Heinäluoma in his speech.

"Education has been one of Finland's lodestars since its birth as a nation. In my opinion, there are three reasons that our comprehensive school system is so successful. Schools offer education to everyone. No one is left behind, even if they might have learning difficulties. The second clear reason is the faculty. The profession of teacher is respected and requires university-level training. The third reason is Finland's relatively homogeneous culture.?

"Success is not a given. One key issue is ensuring a good working environment in schools. A good school requires a highly functional co-operation with parents. If parents are indifferent to their children's education or their values differ from the commonly accepted values of the school, co-operation is more difficult to achieve", says Heinäluoma.

"Making quality education available to all citizens should be a key objective for implementing reform and managing our educational institutions?, states Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou. ?We know from countries like Finland -which consistently tops the international rankings- that quality is perfectly compatible with efficiency and with equity."

"Our educational systems need to better match the instruction imparted and the needs of the labour market: the skills being taught and the skills being sought", emphasises Vassiliou.

On Friday morning, the Ministers of Education and Commissioner for Education visited Helsinki schools. During the visits, they had an opportunity to meet Finnish teachers and students as well as learn about the education system in person.

On Saturday, the ministers are expected to endorse a declaration, in which they will undertake to develop education and the national education system so that every person is guaranteed the opportunity to receive a quality education.

Over the next few years, the focus of European co-operation will be placed on promoting ethical and good practices as well as enhancing democratic culture and participation in education. Every effort will be made to achieve these objectives by, for example, sharing good practices and developing national curricula guidelines, which can be used to promote democracy and intercultural dialogue in education.

20 ministers of education and 13 deputy ministers and state secretaries are attending the conference. The conference will bring a total of 200 conference guests to Helsinki.

Further information:
- Counsellor of Education Maija Innola, Ministry of Education, tel. +358 (0)295 3 30120
- Senior Adviser Anna Mikander, Ministry of Education, tel. +358 (0)295 3 30213
- Director, Spokesman Daniel Höltgen, Council of Europe, tel +33 6 68 29 87 51, [email protected], 


Comprised of 47 member countries, the Council of Europe is an organisation, whose mission is to secure and develop human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Finland has been a member of the Council of Europe since 1989.

Conference website: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/standingconf/