Statement on ‘general education’ in secondary education (01/12/2012)

In the context of the forthcoming reform of secondary education, minister of Education Pascal Smet asked for a statement on the concept of ‘general education’ and the use of European key competences as a framework. It is important to think about the general education that children need at the end of the third degree of secondary education, in order to be able to move to the labour market or to higher education. The challenge is not to add topics to the curriculum, but to have a common understanding of the concept of ‘general education’.

With this statement, the Vlor wishes to start a large societal debate on the topic. The text has been prepared by the working group on the reform of secondary education.

The statement refers to the statements of EUNEC on Bildung from a lifelong learning perspective, Budapest, May 2011.