A new study published by the European Commission reveals that while most European countries have made progress in developing literacy policies, they often lack focus on the groups most at risk, such as boys, children from disadvantaged households and migrant children. By 2020, the EU has set a target to reduce the share of poor readers from 20% to less than 15%. Only Belgium (Flemish Community), Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Poland have already achieved this target so far.

The Eurydice report is an important input to the work of the High Level Group of experts in the field of literacy. The group is examining how to support literacy at all ages and which policy initiatives and programmes have been successful and it will make policy proposals by mid-2012. The Eurydice network provides information on and analyses of European education systems and policies. As from 2011, it consists of 37 national units based in all 33 countries participating in the EU's Lifelong Learning programme.

Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou, underlined that it is unacceptable that so many young people still lack basic reading and writing skills in Europe. She also added that this puts them at risk of social exclusion, makes it harder for them to find a job and reduces their quality of life.

The study focuses on four key topics: teaching approaches, tackling reading difficulties, teacher education and the promotion of reading outside school. Among other conclusions, it reveals that only eight countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom) provide reading specialists at schools to support teachers and pupils.