EDUCATION AND CULTURE newest..

Commission presents new Rethinking Education strategy European personalities urge EU leaders to back Erasmus European Border Breakers Awards 2013 Marie Curie researcher develops cheaper and more sensitive HIV detection test Study calls for stronger focus on IT and entrepreneurial skills in schools More News Events Contracts and Grants Publications Videos Androulla Vassiliou Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth "Rethinking education is not just of question of money: whilst it is true that we need to invest more in education and training, it is clear that education systems also need to modernise and be more flexible in how they operate to respond to the real needs of today's society. Europe will only resume sustained growth by producing highly skilled and versatile people who can contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship. Efficient and well-targeted investment is fundamental to this, but we will not achieve our objectives by reducing education budgets."

In the spotlight Commission presents new Rethinking Education strategy The youth unemployment rate is close to 23% across the European Union – yet at the same time there are more than 2 million vacancies that cannot be filled. Europe needs a radical rethink on how education and training systems can deliver the skills needed by the labour market. The challenge could not be tougher in the context of widespread austerity measures and cuts in education budgets.

European personalities urge EU leaders to back Erasmus More than 100 European personalities from the worlds of education, art, literature, economics, philosophy and sport have signed an open letter to EU heads of state and government in support of the threatened Erasmus student exchange programme. The signatories come from every Member State of the EU and include the Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar, the president of FC Barcelona Sandro Rosell, Nobel Prize winner Professor Christopher Pissarides and several Olympic champions.

European Border Breakers Awards 2013 The winners of the 2013 European Border Breakers Awards, celebrating the top new talents in European pop music, are Nabiha (Denmark), Ewert and The Two Dragons (Estonia), French Films (Finland),C2C (France),Emeli Sandé (Great Britain), Of Monsters and Men (Iceland), Dope D.O.D. (Netherlands),Amor Electro (Portugal), Juan Zelada (Spain) and Niki and the Dove (Sweden).

Marie Curie researcher develops cheaper and more sensitive HIV detection test One Marie Curie Fellow, Dr Roberto de la Rica from Imperial College London (UK), assisting Professor Molly Stevens, successfully tested a pioneering HIV detection technique that is ten times more sensitive than any identification method used to date.

Study calls for stronger focus on IT and entrepreneurial skills in schools The teaching of IT, entrepreneurial and citizenship skills is fundamental for preparing young people for today's job market, but, in general, schools are still paying insufficient attention to these transversal skills compared with basic skills in literacy, mathematics and science, according to a new European Commission report. Part of the problem is rooted in difficulties with assessment.