Eurydice

The financing principle “the money follows the pupil” or better known as the “pupil voucher” implemented in Lithuania has been criticised for a number of years. With the decreasing number of pupils in schools, particularly in rural areas, this fails indeed to ensure equal financing. In fact, it often encourages educational establishments to compete with each other by simply reducing the requirements for students rather than improving the quality of education, as schools are interested in attracting a pupil and so the “pupil voucher”.

A new law (4354/2015) on 'Management of non-performing loans, wage settlements and other urgent regulatory provisions concerning the agreement of budgetary objectives and structural reforms' has recently been voted in Greece. It refers to the changes that will be introduced to public sector wages coming into effect from 1 January 2016

On the same day of the award of the 'Global Teacher Prize', the Ministry of Education has announced the launch of a national teacher prize. The Ministry has underlined the importance of teachers' mission in building up a better society and the opportunity offered by international and national prizes to spotlight teachers' role.

One of the main priorities of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic is the common education of all pupils within mainstream education. Therefore, several legislative changes have been made to promote inclusive education, including the adoption of the Education Act Amendment.

Maltese Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, and the Education Minister, Evarist Bartolo, launched a public consultation process on a new Education Act on 4 July 2016. The Education Regulatory Act proposes important changes to the education system, and is open for public consultation until October 17.

From September 2016 an amendment to the Higher Education Act will be in force. The amendment follows up a long-term public discussion and reflects the need for systemic changes in order to assure the quality and competitiveness of higher education in the Czech Republic. Most changes introduced by the amendment are in the area of quality assurance. The internal quality assurance will fall under the responsibility of higher education institutions. The National Accreditation Office for Higher Education will be in charge of the external quality assurance (it will replace the current Accreditation Commission).

Higher Education in the Netherlands now has a new educational level. Associate Degrees (AD) will now take their place in the Higher Education system alongside existing HBO-bachelor degrees (University of Applied Sciences), HBO-master degrees, WO-bachelor degrees (Research University) and WO-master degrees. Following a proposal from the Dutch Education, Culture and Science Minister Jet Bussemaker, the Ministerial Council has agreed a bill to regulate the autonomous status of ADs.

On 28 November 2016 the Federation and the Länder officially launched the National Decade for Literacy and Basic Education 2016 to 2026 (Nationale Dekade für Alphabetisierung und Grundbildung 2016 bis 2026). The National Decade builds on the findings and results of the National Strategy for Literacy and Basic Education of Adults (Nationale Strategie für Alphabetisierung und Grundbildung Erwachsener) and is designed to raise reading and writing competences as well as the level of basic education of adults in Germany.

There are several major changes in the new legislation that will greatly affect the quality of studies in Lithuania. Firstly, the new law ensures that minimal enrolment criteria shall apply to both those who apply for state-funded study places and those who choose to self-finance their studies. Secondly, the new law makes it possible for public higher education institutions to sign contracts with the Ministry of Education. The contracts can be signed for a period of 3 years and will define the key activity areas of higher education institutions and their respective enrolment criteria. In cases where the performance of a higher education institution meets the provisions of the signed contract, the institution may be entitled to an increase in state funding of up to 5% more than initially assigned by the state budget.

The initiative is part of a fast track training scheme initiated by the Swedish government with the goal of helping new migrants with professional qualifications from their home countries get jobs in sectors where there is currently a shortage of workers. The course combines studying theory and Swedish language at university with a 26-week internship at a school or pre-school. It is also partly given in Arabic, so that the newly-arrived teachers can gain an understanding of the Swedish school system as quickly as possible. The fast-track system means that these new arrivals can gain work experience, and eventually full employment, in a short time.