The public consultation launched by the EU Commission about: "Schools for the XXI century", will last three months, until 15 October. An 8-question questionnaire will record comments and suggestions "about the development and modernisation of schooling in the member states". Available in all the official languages of the Union, the questionnaire is addressed to teachers, families, students, school directors, school experts, and regional and local school authorities. Ján Figel’, commissioner for education and the youth, explains that education is the fundamental stalwart of the efforts made "to improve competitiveness and social cohesion within the EU", and "schools play an extremely important role in this process". According to the commissioner, they are not only the basic foundation of one’s personal lifelong education, but "they also teach citizenship, solidarity and participatory democracy". However "more efforts need to be done" and new solutions have to be found "for our schools to cope with the challenges of the twenty-first century". (continued)
