The Council of the European Union adopted in June 2011 a recommendation on policies to reduce early school leaving which seeks to promote progress towards the Europe 2020 headline target of reducing school drop-out rates to less than 10% by 2020. Reducing early school leaving is essential for achieving a number of key objectives in the Europe 2020 strategy and will help to achieve the objectives of smart and inclusive growth.

The objectives set Council Recommendation on policies to reduce early school leaving, supports some of the elements included both in the flagship initiative ‘A European platform against poverty and social exclusion’, which sets a framework for action to ensure social and territorial cohesion; and the ‘Youth on the move’ flagship initiative aims to ‘enhance the performance and international attractiveness of Europe’s higher education institutions and raise the overall quality of all levels of education and training.

Being aware that the targets set by the Council in 2003 have not been attained, the Council now aims to tackle a problem which currently makes that one in seven young people leave education and training before they have completed upper secondary education. Therefore, it called called on Member states to ensure that comprehensive strategies on early school leaving are in place by the end of 2012 and that these are implemented in line with national priorities and the Europe 2020 objectives.

According to Council Recommendation, the main factors leading to early school leaving should be identified, and the characteristics of the phenomenon at national, regional and local level should be monitored as the foundation for targeted and effective evidence-based policies. Measures should focus on groups with higher risk of early school leaving such as migrant or Roma, and it must be ensured that measures are coherent and integrated.

The Commission will contribute to the efforts put in place by Member states and support their strategies through the exchange of experience and good practice. Networking, experimentation and innovative approaches should be promoted in order to reduce early school leaving and improve educational outcomes. The Council has also invited the Commission to report periodically on the progress towards the Europe 2020 target and on the implementation of Member States’ strategies on early school leaving through the Annual Growth Survey and within the reporting arrangements under the Education and Training 2020 strategic framework.