In launching the consultation on the schooling systems in Europe, the Executive was prompted by a number of allegedly "alarming" statistics: the high number of dropouts; the fact "one child out of five fails to learn reading properly"; the gender inequality that can be found in education; the "poor potentials of the EU member states in some subjects such as mathematics and science". The board of commissioners intends to outline some areas of cooperation within the EU to "support the member states in their efforts to modernise their national schooling systems". The issues addressed by the questionnaire include: school syllabi ("How to organise the subjects so that the schools can equip the students with an exhaustive range of basic knowledge?"); lifelong learning; economy ("How can the educational systems boost economic growth in Europe?"); early dropouts; social inclusion; citizenship, democracy and the "transfer of such basic values as peace and the tolerance of diversity". The results of this EU-wide consultation explain the experts of the EU Commission will steer the discussion between the EU and the member states in the area of education and the development of common actions in this respect.
