Belgian EU Presidency Conference

The Belgian EU Presidency Conference, Breaking the cycle of disadvantage – Social inclusion in and through education, took place on September 28 and 29 at the University of Ghent, Belgium. Paul Downes, Director of the Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, was an invited speaker at the Conference Workshop, Pupils at risk of social exclusion: overcoming school failure and reducing school drop out. The other speakers at the workshop were Adam Pokorny, Head of the Unit on School Education and Comenius, European Commission, Directorate-General, Education and Culture, and Fred Voncken, Director for Early School Leaving in the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Netherlands. The Workshop was chaired by Jean Gordon, Director of the European Institute of Education and Social Policy, Paris. The Workshop discussants were Maria Hrabinska, Expert, Policy Reporting, European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) and Michael Stark, Senior Official of the British Government, until recently Deputy Director, UK Department of Education and Head of Policy on narrowing gaps in achievement of disadvantaged pupils in English schools.

Dr. Downes’ presentation ‘It’s the heart stupid’. Emerging priority issues for prevention of early school leaving: A solution-focused approach’ argued that recent influential documents such as the OECD’s Ten Steps to Equity in Education (2007), Overcoming School Failure (2010) and the European Commission’s (2009) document on Progress towards the Lisbon objectives in Education and Training have neglected a cluster of issues pertaining to early school leaving regarding pupils’ emotions and the need for multidisciplinary community based emotional support services working in schools.

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: Friday October 01 2010