Ik was gisteren en vandaag een deelnemer bij de start van de European Literacy Coalition. Dit is een heel belangrijk initiatief. Hieronder volgt het  persbericht.

The European Commission is launching the European Literacy Coalition, a new initiative under the Union of Skills and the Action Plan on Basic Skills aimed at improving literacy skills across Europe.

The Coalition will bring together schools, education and training providers, libraries and cultural organisations, associations of teachers, parents and learners, and public authorities. The Coalition’s aim is to share expertise and reinforce cooperation on topics such as early childhood as the foundation for literacy and on the training of literacy professionals. It will complement the work of existing initiatives and networks in the field such as EU Read and ELINET.

The launch of this Coalition comes at a time of persistent literacy challenges. Literacy is a foundation for learning, participation, and resilience in a rapidly changing Europe. Yet, OECD PISA 2025 results show that 31.3% of 15-year-olds in the EU struggle to understand basic text.

Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Roxana Mînzatu, said: “The results of the PISA 2025 survey clearly tell us that we need to step up our efforts on reading. We must ensure that every young person in Europe develops the literacy skills they need to learn, participate fully in society and succeed in life. Reading is the foundation. By bringing together expertise from across Europe, the European Literacy Coalition can strengthen cooperation and support more effective action on literacy.”

The Coalition’s founding text, the Warsaw Memorandum, sets out a shared understanding of literacy, identifies key barriers across the course of life and outlines the first steps for the Coalition’s long-term work.

More information on the EU Literacy Coalition can be found on the European Education Area website.

(For more information: Eva Hrnčířová – Tel.: +32 2 298 8433; Eirini Zarkadoula – Tel.: +32 2 295 70 65)