European schools
The European School System was created in 1953 to provide quality education to our children, from kindergarten to the European Baccalaureate.
The growth of the institutions and the successive enlargements of the Union have led to a considerable expansion of the European school system, which today counts more than 21,000 pupils in Europe.
This growth continues and requires the opening of new schools, more particularly in Brussels and in the countries where the European agencies are located.
Regarding the equitable sharing of the costs linked to seconded teachers, the Board of Governors accepted in 2008 the possibility of a teaching by non-native teachers, while providing guarantees in order to ensure the quality of teaching.
The reform process is now entering its final phase. The various measures adopted will be implemented in the coming months. They concern cost-sharing and governance – in other words, the precise mission to be given to the various actors of the system at central and local level -, as well as the opening up of the system (see the document entitled “The reform of the system of the European Schools ”.
Management of European schools
The Board of Governors of the European Schools has 31 members, who are:
- Ministers of education, usually represented by senior officials from the ministries of education or foreign affairs of each Member State;
- A Commission official representing all other EU institutions;
- A representative of the European Patent Office;
- A representative designated by the Staff Committee of teachers;
- A representative of the parents of pupils appointed by the Parents’ Association.
The European schools are financed mainly by public funds and form a system independent of the national education systems. The Union’s financial contribution amounts to around 50% of the total budget of the European Schools. Member States provide around 23% of budgetary revenue by seconding teachers in accordance with a specific agreement.
R&D has always worked to ensure that European schools can meet the expectations of parents, with a sufficient number of places, a clear and fair registration policy and a reasonable location of schools in the different districts of Brussels.
R&D has always been on your side to take into account the concerns expressed with regard to the quality of the teaching delivered by the European schools and the support of the pupils especially in case of difficulties.
In cases of harassment at school, R&D used the best specialists to inform about this phenomenon and to provide avenues of work by working in close collaboration with the school heads.
Similarly, R&D has been very attentive to ensuring that European schools guarantee the best integration and the best follow-up of pupils with special arrangements needs by carefully avoiding any elitist approach.
R&D requests
- in close collaboration with the heads of the European schools, the setting up of a real awareness programme to ensure an efficient and professional management of the difficulties observed;
- the guarantee to the children and their families of an optimal level as for the education and the special care of the children who need more attention.
See also the European Schools’own information: