European School
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The European Schools are co-educational day schools providing nursery, primary and secondary education. They were established to provide free education for children of personnel of the European Institutions. Other children may be admitted subject to the availability of places. All full-time teachers are appointed by their national governments.
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The Aim
The aims of the schools were expressed in the words of Jean Monnet in 1953:
"Educated side by side, untroubled from infancy by divisive prejudices, acquainted with all that is great and good in the different cultures, it will be borne in upon them as they mature that they belong together. Without ceasing to look to their own lands with love and pride, they will become in mind Europeans, schooled and ready to complete and consolidate the work of their fathers before them, to bring into being a united and thriving Europe."
History
The European Schools project began in October 1953 in Luxembourg, on the initiative of officials of the European Coal and Steel Community, with the support of the Community's institutions and the Luxembourg Government. The first European school was established in a suburb of Luxembourg in that year, for the children of the officials of the European Coal and Steel Community.
It was an experiment to standardize teaching standards amongst countries. Different governments and Ministries of Education co-operated in matters of curricula, appointment of teachers, inspection and recognition of levels attained. The success of this educational experiment encouraged the European Economic Community and Euratom to press for the establishment of other European Schools at their various centres.
In April 1957 the future of this and later European schools was secured by the Statute of the European School, a treaty signed by the Member States of the Community. The signing of Protocol made the Luxembourg School the first official European School. The first European Baccalaureate was held there in July 1959 and the qualification was recognised as fulfilling basic entrance requirements by all universities of the member states. The United Kingdom acceded to that Statute in 1972. The present Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools dates from 1994. The schools are thus established by intergovernmental agreement.
Curriculum
The curriculum is common to all twelve schools and is centrally controlled by the Board of Inspectors and the Board of Governors. There is a strong common core throughout the secondary school.
- The following subjects are compulsory for Years 1-7 of the secondary school (equivalent to Years 7-13 in England):
- First language (mother tongue)
- First foreign language (one of English, French or German)
- Mathematics
- Science
- History
- Geography
- Ethics/religion
- Physical education
- Art and music are compulsory in Years 1-2, as is the study of a second foreign language in Years 2-5 and philosophy in Years 6-7.
- There is a small range of options for Years 4-5 including economics, Latin and a third foreign language, and a greater range of choices in Years 6-7.
- Science is taught as an integrated course in Years 1-3 and as three separate subjects in Years 4-5.
- History and Geography are studied in the student's first foreign language from Year 3 onwards.
The European Baccalaureate
The European Baccalaureate is taken at the end of the seventh year of secondary education. It is awarded only by the currently twelve European Schools and should be distinguished from the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the baccalaureate of various national systems. Details of this examination are set out in the Annex of the Statute of the European School and in the Regulations for the European Baccalaureate, available from the schools.
The European Baccalaureate is administered and directly supervised by an external examining board appointed annually by the Board of Governors. The examining board consists of up to three representatives of each member state, who must satisfy the conditions governing the appointment of equivalent examining boards in their respective countries. It is presided over by a senior university educator appointed by each member state in turn, assisted by a member of the Board of Inspectors of the schools.
Article 5 (2) of the Statute provides that holders of the Baccalaureate shall:
- enjoy, in the Member State of which they are nationals, all the benefits attaching to the possession of the diploma or certificate awarded at the end of secondary school education in that country; and
- be entitled to seek admission to any university in the territory of any Member State on the same terms as nationals of that Member State with equivalent qualifications
The Baccalaureate is a two year course and assesses the performance of students in the subjects taught in secondary Years 6-7.
The first awards of the European Baccalaureate were made in 1959.
Schools
European Schools are usually built in close proximity to a European Institution. There are now 12 European Schools:
- European School, Luxembourg (Luxembourg), founded in 1953
- European School, Brussels I (Uccle) [1] (http://www.eeb1.org/) (Belgium), founded in 1958
- European School, Mol (Mol), (Template:BEL), founded in 1960
- European School, Varese [2] (http://www.scuolaeuropeadivarese.it/) (Italy), founded in 1960
- European School, Karlsruhe [3] (http://www.eskar.org/) (Germany), founded in 1962
- European School, Bergen (Netherlands), founded in 1963
- European School, Brussels II (Woluwé) [4] (http://www.eeb2.be/) (Belgium), founded in 1974
- European School, Munich (Germany), founded in 1977
- European School, Culham (United Kingdom), founded in 1978
- European School, Brussels III (Ixelles) [5] (http://www.ee3.org/) (Belgium), founded in 2000
- European School, Frankfurt-am-Main [6] (http://www.esffm.org/) (Germany), founded in 2002
- European School, Alicante (Spain), founded in 2002
A second European School is opening in Luxembourg as well as a fourth in Brussels. As of October 12 2003, the student population of the European Schools stood at 19267 — of which 1809 were in the nursery schools, 7424 in the primary schools and 10034 in the secondary schools.
External links
- Official site of the European Schools (http://www.eursc.org/)
- Conseil Supérieur des Elèves (COSUP) (http://www.cosup.org/) — An organisation that represents all the Pupils' Committees (PCs) of the European Schools.
- European Schools Alumni Online Community (http://www.euresco.org/)
- The Site of the Former Pupils of the European Schools (http://www.yourschool.net/)
- Language sections in the European Schools (http://www.eursc.org/SE/htmlEn/sections.html) — Lists which language sections exist in the different schools.
- Department for Education and skills (http://www.dfes.gov.uk/recruitment/europa.cfm)
Source
- Department for Education and Skillsde:Europäische Schulen