Education and training
The EU promotes access to quality basic education for all children, youth and adults. This global commitment was agreed upon through the international Education for All movement. In line with this, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of universal primary education and gender equality in education is a key priority of the EC’s development policy. In addition, specific focus lies on quality issues, vocational training and addressing inequalities.
Story from the field
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The Change of Game initiative encourages Belgian, Czech and Dutch youngsters to get involved with activities that aim at the improvement of people’s lives in developing countries. The events and activities have been very well perceived by the public. -
Erasmus scholarships for Syrian students
By providing scholarships which enable Syrians to study in Europe & Europeans in Syria, the EU seeks both to enhance the quality of European higher education and to promote dialogue, cooperation and exchange between Europe and non-European countries. -
Mainstreaming good practices in basic education in Indonesia
The EU supports the spread of good education practices in Indonesia that have been developed and implemented at school and district level and have proven effective in improving learning opportunities and outcomes for children in basic education
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What's On
Tempus IV programme call for proposals
23/11/2010 - The 4th call for proposals within the framework of the Tempus IV Programme for support of the modernisation of higher education in partner countries has been announced on 15 October 2010, with a deadline for submissions on 15 February 2011. Information Days are held between October 2010 and January 2011 in partner countries in order to inform beneficiaries about the Call and how to prepare a proposal.
Financial support
The EC utilizes various methods of aid delivery to support education in developing countries: a project approach, a sector approach and budget support. For the period 2007-2013, the EU's action in support of education is financed by means of two types of instruments:
- the implementation of the education policy at national and regional level is supported by geographical instruments, such as the European Development Fund (in the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries), the Development Co-operation Instrument (in Latin America, Asia and South Africa), and the European Neigbourhoud & Partnership Instrument (in the neighbouring regions);
- under the thematic programme “Investing in people” a budget is allocated for the priority area “Education, knowledge and skills”. Actions funded under this programme focus in particular on promoting equal access to quality basic education for hard-to reach children and improving opportunities for vocational education and skills training.
Background information
In 2000, on the occasion of the World Education Forum in Dakar, the international community committed on the Dakar Framework for Action 
to achieve six goals for promoting “ Education for All”. In 2002, a Communication from the Commission presented a framework for the objectives, priorities and methods of the EC in the field of education and training in the context of poverty reduction.
In particular, the EU’s policy in this field promotes:
- the consideration of the needs of the different educational levels, from primary to tertiary. Opportunities for collaboration between higher education institutions in developing countries and the EU exist under the education programmes Erasmus Mundus, Tempus and Edulink;
- the development of pathways between formal and non-formal education and between education and training;
- life-long learning.
Following the recent communication 'Towards an EU response to situations of fragility' [164 KB] and in recognition of the major MDG challenges in states affected by crisis, the EC is actively involved in improving our engagement in the education sector in fragile situations. This has been done through various strategies: direct support to critical research, policy dialogue at country level with national stakeholders and development partners, and active participation in key working groups on fragility under the Inter Agency Network on Education in Emergencies (INEE).