Education targets in Europe 2020 : challenges and prospects for Malta

Abstract

The European Commission has recently put into force the second ten-year agenda for the European Union: the EU 2020 social policy agenda. The EU2020 compromises five ambitious objectives with regards to; employment, innovation, education, social inclusion and climate/ energy change. This study investigates how EU2020 objectives in education are being targeted in Malta on the basis of level, research and strategy. Special attention is given to challenges and prospects that Malta is facing with regards to accomplishing education targets established by the EU 2020. It also compares concurrent states of affairs and strategies in education in Malta with the EU 27 average. The hypotheses of this study are that 1) Malta's ongoing contribution to accomplishing EU 2020 targets m education will vary depending on the type of target. 2) Targets measured on a national level are more challenging than those assessed ad a EU 27 average. The methodology used to conduct this study was qualitative documentary analysis based on a number of indicators retrieved from the literature survey such as reduction in the percentage of early school leavers, investing more money in research and development projects and harmonizing all education systems to one with the introduction of the European Qualifications Framework. Using Malta as a case study, the research tool employed was documentary discourse analyses of official EU and Malta documentation on EU 2020 targets; policies and strategies implemented to target EU 2020 objectives.