A new frontier

“Allowing students to affirm their identity, foundation of their development as European citizens”; offering “complete and quality training, from nursery to secondary school”; “stepping up a spirit of tolerance, cooperation, dialogue and respect within the school community as also outside the school”. These are some of the objectives of the European School, born with the Eec in 1957 to ensure an appropriate education to the children of the functionaries leaving their country of origin to work in Community bodies. Today these schools represent a “new frontier” of teaching: in an evermore globalized epoch, these institutes provide intercultural and multilingual education in full respect of the diversities marking the Eu in the third millennium. A “mission” to which the year 2008, the Year of Intercultural Dialogue, will devote primary attention, 21thousand students in 27 nations. The Schola Europaea (Latin was chosen for the official logo exemplifying the historical bond with the Old Continent) has 14 seats, located in seven Countries – Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom – attended by 21 thousand students from the 27 Eu Countries. This is an intergovernmental accomplishment, chaired by the High Council of European Schools and by a permanent secretariat. Secretary general Renée Christmann, authored the recent Annual Report offering a snapshot of the School and its various seats, including data on school attendance and its evolution in time, the different nationalities and mother tongues represented, the teaching staff (over 1300 professors appointed by the respective Education Ministries), the budget and infrastructural problems. “Pedagogic priority” is part and parcel of nursery schools (for children aged 4-5 attendance is not compulsory), primary schools (five-year courses) and secondary schools (seven years, including training “specialization” up to the B.A.) Large and small institutions. European schools are located in various cities where EU agencies have their seats: Alicante, Bergen, Brussels (4 seats, including the provisional school of Berkendael planned to be transferred in the area of Laeken), Culham, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Luxembourg (2 schools), Mol, Munich, and Varese. Figures vary according to the Country: less than 700 students are registered in Mol and Bergen, while in the “overpopulated” Brussels and Luxembourg, urban areas marked by higher concentration of EU staff and bodies, the Schools are attended by up to 3 thousand students. As a matter of fact, this year’s Christmann Report highlighted a series of structural deficits in these cities, while “Frankfurt and Munich experienced yearly growth rates exceeding 4%, due to the increased Central Bank and European Patent Office personnel”, located in the two German cities. The Commission’s support. A constant worry in rue Joseph II in Brussels – headquarter of the Schola Europea – is related to the budget. When in 2002, the EU Parliament had approved a resolution on these institutes’ performance and evolution, also in view of enlargement towards the East and the Mediterranean, the issue of community funding which these School benefit from had been raised. Debate within the High Council aimed at decreasing expenses linked to seat distribution, registration policies and the large resort to teaching with vehicular languages. It must be underlined that for children of EU officers, school attendance is free-of-charge. Families are in charge of the different external services such as the canteen, transportation, integrative, cultural and sport activities, field-trips and garderies (before and after school services). A few years ago it was decided that the children of officers working in other international bodies (such as Nato), along with children of families interested in this kind of education may equally admitted to the European Schools, although in these cases they need to pay very high fees. Consolidated account items for the year 2007 amounted to 231 million euro (193 million in 2003): 52 million from Member States covering teachers’ salaries and school premises; while 126 million were allocated by the EU Commission, covering 55% of total expenditure. “Annual mean expense per student -points out the Report by the Secretary General – amounts to 11.388 euro. In general, costs per student are more contained in larger schools and higher in smaller ones”. This as relates to Luxembourg II teaching institute, whose approximate overall fee amounts to 7.500 euro. Fees rise up to 13thousans euro in Varese and Culham, and to 16 thousand in Bergen and Mol.