23Rd Session of the Council of Europe Standing Conference of Ministers of Education, 4

MINISTRSTVO ZA ŠOLSTVO IN ŠPORT

REPUBLIKA SLOVENIJA

Ljubljana, 26 May 2010

PRESS RELEASE

23rd Session of the Council of Europe Standing Conference of Ministers of Education, 4–5 June 2010

On 4 to 5 June 2010, Slovenia will host the 23rd Session of the Council of Europe Standing Conference of Ministers of Education, at Brdo pri Kranju Congress Centre (Predoslje 39, Kranj, Slovenia). The event will be organised by the Ministry of Education and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia and the Directorate of Education of the Council of Europe.

In principle, the Council of Europe’s Standing Conference of Ministers of Education is held every three years. The initiative for organising this conference was taken by Slovenia at the 22nd session of ministers of education in Istanbul 2007.

The central topic of the conference will be "Education for Sustainable Democratic Societies: the Role of Teachers", and will be attended by the ministers of education of the Council of Europe Member States, with delegations and representatives of observer states and several international organisations. So far, participation at the Conference has been confirmed by the ministers of education of Finland, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Turkey, Cyprus, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and the Ukraine.

The participants will be addressed by The Council of Europe Deputy Secretary- General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio and the Minister of Education and Sport, Dr Igor Lukšič, as well as high representatives of the Council of Europe bodies.

The conference aims to highlight some key challenges of contemporary societies, and the significance and the role of Europe in dealing with issues made even more pressing by the global crisis. Europe is thus confronted with the question of the future of its own social model and its responsibility towards other parts of the world. In addition, the Conference will allow an in-depth discussion by education ministers on the role of education, in particular of teachers, in co-building contemporary societies.

Slovenian President Dr Danilo Türk will give an opening lecture on the challenges of contemporary societies, while the topic of the Conference is to be presented by a distinguished Slovenian professor of the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Education, Dr Pavel Zgaga.

The ministers will examine in more detail the following sub-topics: teachers’ competencies in relation to diverse democratic societies, partnership and networking in education, and professional development and social recognition of teachers. The concluding part of the Conference will focus on discussion and adoption of political documents and orientations of the Council of Europe in the area of education for the forthcoming medium-term period. Information: Council of Europe: [email protected] Ministry of Education and Sport, Slovenia: [email protected]