The international education conference

The International Conference of Education entitled “Diverse Talents for the future of Europe” began this Monday on March 5, 2012 at the European Parliament. The first session of the conference was spread around the question “Which decisions must be taken to achieve the EU 2020? “.

DAY 1:

After hearing Mr. Mevlüt Akgüngör (representing The Platform Education and Youth of Fedactio) and Prof.dr. Ides Nicaise (organizing committee), participants had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Adem Kumcu respectively President of UNITEE), Mr Pierre Mairesse (European Commission, DG Education and Culture), Prof..dr. Maurice Crul (VU, Erasmus University, NL), Dr. Maciej Jakubowski (OECD, F) and Thomas Huddleston (Migration Policy Group, B).

Hundred participants of the conference came from very different backgrounds and from different countries like Denmark, Netherlands, France, United Kingdom at the first session.

DAY 2:

The second and third panel of our international conference on education took place at the Flemish Ministry of Education. The second day began with the opening speech by the conference coordinator Mevlut Akgungor. Akgungor drew attention to the importance of non-governmental organizations in the process of education.

Professor Ides Nicaise, president of the organizing committee, made his speech on two key issues: “What is the role of education on the development of talent? “And” How can school systems respond the needs of immigrant children. “Subsequently, the Flemish Minister of Education Pascal Smet shared his views in a video message. He said that education is facing a number of deficiencies and solutions must be found, afterwards he thanked the guests for their participation in this conference.

To introduce the second panel of the conference, Prof.. Dr. Anja Heikkinen of the University of Tampere in Finland, described the general objectives of the European Union in 2020. Heikkinen mentioned that some minority groups are small, while others are strong. She also stressed the importance of the concepts of economic power and cultural power. The other panelists were Dr. Sandra Groeneveld from Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Dr. Carla Dahl Jorhensen, Dr. Altay Manço, Brenda King representing the European Economic and Social Committee, Dr. Jana Huttowa from the Open Society Institute, Mr. Murat Alici from the NPOINT.

For more information on the conference, please visit the website www.educationconference.eu.