No country can afford to squander its human capital in the fast moving, globalised, competitive world we live in. Most education Ministries and local education authorities in Europe recognise this.
Every year European schools enrol thousands of pupils from other countries. This migration brings with it a wealth of cultures and backgrounds, but also creates challenges for school education at all levels.
INDIE - Inclusion and Diversity in Education - is a British Council project run in collaboration with national and regional education authorities from 11 countries. (England, Wales, Scotland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Malta). The project aims to promote social cohesion and raise education standards in culturally inclusive schools and so ensure that all pupils can fulfil their potential and make their contribution to society.
The project began by training young people from participating schools in leadership skills to spearhead the production of an 'educational charter' from their country stating the principles required to achieve a truly inclusive and socially cohesive school. A group was then selected to go to Brussels in February 2008 and work together to produce a European version of the 'charter' which was then presented to Head teachers and policy makers in the European Parliament.
In-school projects were designed to meet the challenges embodied in the 'Charter'. The next stage of the project is to gather the results of the pilot projects into best practice guidelines due for publication next spring. A meeting in Berlin at the end of this month for policy makers will discuss the next steps and the format of the best practice guidelines.
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