European comparisons and rankings are gaining importance in both scientific and political discussions on education. Thus, the importance of solid, critical information on the results of European surveys and scientific research in all sectors of the education system rises - to assess the national standard of performance empirically and critically on the one hand, and to avoid hasty or wrong conclusions on the other hand. The present article tries to provide a highly objective report on European research on education, on the basis of the third pan-European survey on in-company training (Continuing Vocational Training Survey, CVTS-3).

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From a current survey among class participants at the WIFI, interesting findings can be made and conclusions can be drawn regarding the question what sort of participants are supported by companies – by bearing their expenses, letting them attend the classes during their working hours, or both.

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Projects that aim at innovations in education systems, only serve those who carry them out - or do they serve other professionals in this field, too?

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In light of the current discussion on the design and applicability of a European and national frame of qualifications, we have observed that questions of mutual reliance play an important role when it comes to assessing qualifications correctly.

German entrepreneurs in electronics, for example, have to be sure that the grading of Hungarian electronic technicians on a certain level of the EQF/EQR matches “reality”. Only in such a way, the Hungarian applicants can be positioned according to their job quality profile. This is especially true in case the possible employer does not speak Hungarian and thus does not understand the certificates of the applicant.

In the corresponding discussions, the fact is hardly ever questioned that in the process of correct assessment, policy makers and experts should play the central part. With the aid of topic-specific “truths”, as well as political legitimacy, international confidence in information about national education systems is sought. We believe that this does not necessarily have to be that way, and thus present an alternative in this article.

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2.4 million job info hits on BIC in the year 2008

On 4 April last year, a completely redesigned version of BIC.at was put online. Since that day, the number of hits has rocketed. Job info hits have risen from 888,786 in the year 2007 to 2,44,828 in 2008, which equals a rise of 170 percent. This has made BIC.at one of the most important online job information systems in Austria.

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Since early January, a list of apprenticeship professions can be obtained at http://lehrberufsliste.m-services.at

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The aim of the project ‘accreditation system for developers of job training curricula’ is to make a contribution to securing the quality of European e-learning programs.

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As regards the field of development, this year asks for diversity which demands the highest possible know-how and a lot of creativity from our team. One guiding idea connects all our plans – to promote quality. We will act on this maxim and realize the following tasks.

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... and how we can still handle it

The moaning about the lack of social competence is self-made. How can we ask for something that is not part of the active vocabulary of most people? “Whoever wants to change public order and condition, has to begin by changing the language”, Confucius stated already. Clemens Widhalm, from Dale Carnegie Austria, analyses.

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Lifelong learning can also take place in an intercultural dialogue. Overcoming borders may serve as an example. These can be geographic or social, or even differences in education or cultural influences.

The Grundtvig project “weReurope – European Lifelong Learning by Intercultural Dialogue” aims at developing and testing transferable training instruments as part of partnership and in the course of five large conferences. These are intended to make it easier to overcome barriers.

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