Fighting racism in education report news item
From DADEL
New Report from European Network Against Racism: Fighting racism and promoting equal rights in the field of education
Source: European Network Against Racism press release
9 August 2007 -- A new report by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), Fighting racism and promoting equal rights in the field of education, shows that ethnic and religious minorities face discrimination and disadvantage in European education systems and concludes that the Lisbon strategy in the field of education and training is not meeting its objective of ensuring equal opportunities for ethnic and religious minorities in education.
“Education remains at the heart of promoting anti-racism in Europe, both from the perspective of fostering intercultural societies, and in addressing disadvantage experienced by ethnic and religious minorities. Yet racism and discrimination continue to manifest themselves in education systems in many ways, from limited access to education to school segregation and to lack of educational attainment”, said Pascale Charhon, ENAR Director.
The report comes at an opportune time, just as the European Commission is launching a consultation on the future of schools in Europe. It highlights the current legislative and policy measures for addressing discrimination in education and training at international and EU levels and examines some of the gaps and barriers to effective implementation of these measures. The report also considers national responses to the challenge of providing intercultural education, and draws valuable lessons from the experience of five countries (Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, United Kingdom).
The report ends with perhaps its most important contribution, indicating ways in which the European Union can move forward, by making a series of recommendations for actions at European, national and educational institutional levels.
As Helga Trüpel MEP, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Education and Culture, points out in the foreword to this report: “Education is not only important for economic competitiveness (…), it also makes a contribution to the social inclusion of individuals and communities”.
Bashy Quraishy, ENAR President, added that: “The EU must rise to the challenge of promoting equality and inclusion in education if it is to be successful in realising the Lisbon goal of making the EU more competitive with greater social cohesion, and in preparing all its citizens for a more diverse Europe.”
More information
Full text of ENAR Report Fighting racism and promoting equal rights in the field of education