On May 23-24, 2023, an international seminar entitled "Can Europe afford underinvested education?" took place in Poznan / Poland, organised by KK NSZZ "Solidarność" (Komisja Krajowa NSZZ "Solidarność"), in cooperation with EZA and funded by the European Union. The seminar was attended by 30 representatives of workers’ organisations from Poland, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, the Netherlands and Albania.
The aim of the seminar was to answer the following questions: How is education understood in a given country: as a profitable and profitable investment or as a burdensome cost? What about one or the other understanding? Is there a dissonance between declarations and contacts actions in this additional one? Has the optics of perceiving education changed over the last few years? What does this reveal?
Elżbieta Wielg, NSZZ "Solidarność", welcomed the participants and introduced the programme of the two-day meeting. There were further welcome words by Jerzy Jaworski, Deputy Chairman and Treasurer of KK NSZZ "Solidarność", Jarosław Lange, Chairman of ZR Wielkopolski NSZZ "Solidarność" and Mariusz Wiśniewski, First Deputy Mayor of the City of Poznań.
After these speeches, the participants of the seminar had the opportunity to listen (on-line) to Agnieszka Lenartowicz-Łysik, social adviser to the President of the Republic of Poland, representative of the President of the Republic of Poland in the Social Dialogue Council, who, based on the presentation, discussed the issues of high-quality investment in education and training from the European perspective.
After a short coffee break, the lecture part began. Its aim was to show education - on the example of four countries - from the perspective of decision-makers, staff and social perception and following the above mentioned key questions.
The first presentation was made (on-line) by Imma Badia Camprubi, USO, Spain. At the beginning, she presented the situation of education in her country, showing some results from the PIRLS and PISA reports. On their basis, there is a clear decline in the quality of education in Spain. As reasons for this state of affairs, Imma pointed to: the politicization of education (9 education laws), decentralization of education (17 regions were delegated powers in the field of education law and funding - the effect: deepening inequalities), the lack of a state pact for education (despite 40 years of democracy, lead to it), no investment. She went on to make several conclusions that: the goals of improving the education system must be clear and apolitical; it should be the government's mission to set guidelines for public spending on education; it is good to increase investment in education, but this increase must be accompanied by accounting for and improving the efficiency of spending on education. She stressed the fact that for the USO, education is not an expense, it is an investment, but this investment must be done well. She ended her presentation by quoting the words of Nelson Mandela: "Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world."
The situation of another country was discussed by Isabel Coenen, FNV expert, Netherlands. She presented what the Dutch system of lifelong learning is all about. The common denominator for both employees and employers and government is responsibility as well as interests. For employees, this means greater employment opportunities and strengthening their position; for employers, it means a strong workforce that keeps pace with changes, and for the government, it means the possibility of implementing a knowledge-based economy and preventing unemployment. Among the national activities, she mentioned: formal education, counseling and further education for the unemployed, the STAP voucher system, a portal with information on training, subsidies and career guidance, subsidies for special projects (support for small businesses, training for employees, digital competences), Dutch qualifications framework (NLQF).
Isabel Lorenz- Sikorska emphasized that the strength of the Dutch education and vocational training system is the very strong involvement of social partners, especially trade unions. They are well integrated into the national system and influence both policy formulation and implementation. The vast majority of formal education is financed from the central budget (6% of GDP). She summed up her presentation with the benefits of lifelong education: a positive impact on GDP and social benefits, which included, among others: improving social cohesion, reducing crime, as well as bringing health benefits and reducing social spending.
After this speech, moderator Izabela Lorenz-Sikorska made a short summary and then ended the first day of the seminar.
Two more presentations were presented on the second day of the seminar. The example of Portugal was discussed by Maria Reina Martin, President of Fidestra, Portugal. Expenditure in this country on education fell by about 8%, of which the lion's share is intended to cover administrative costs, including salaries for teachers. Over the next 10 years, educational activities will focus on 4 thematic programmes: economic issues, natural issues related to the sea, climate change and its consequences, digitization of society (emphasis on digital competences of both young and old people) and demography (min. retraining teachers, TAPE program - emphasis on finishing school for struggling children, program for intervention children, integrating immigrants into Portuguese culture). The biggest problems faced by the education system in Portugal are not finishing school by children, and trade unions, whose activities are identified with political parties, are also a major threat.
The last presentation was given by Elżbieta Leszczyńska, NSZZ "Solidarność", Wielkopolska, she discussed the ways of financing education in Poland (state budget, own income and EU funds), focused on what problems teachers face and what should be done to make the teaching profession attractive. The most important activities include: promoting professional autonomy, ensuring decent, competitive salaries, ensuring workload control and work-life balance, supporting an effective career start, ensuring the quality of professional development, embedding equality and diversity, ensuring social dialogue to strengthen the teaching profession.
Then two discussion panels were held, the first focused on the following issues: the effects of perceiving education as a cost, as an investment, what is the "profitability" of investing in education?, what can be a measure of the "profitability" of investing in education?
The panel members came to the following conclusions: education cannot be seen as a cost, both at the national and European level it needs additional investment, too many teachers leave the profession, we should teach children and young people in such a way that they can perform their functions around the world, too a large number of university graduates is not a positive phenomenon. The best measure of the "profitability" of investing in education is the acquisition by students of both social and hard competences, and above all, the ability to cope on the labor market.
The second panel looked for answers to the following questions: How to anchor the belief that investment in education is not a choice but a necessity in the common consciousness, and that no European country can afford restrictions in this matter? What role do the social partners/authorities see in building this awareness?
The panelists jointly agreed that a change of awareness and mentality is the key to investing in education, which should be viewed as an investment in the long term, if we do not invest in young and elderly people, each country will lose what is important, i.e. human capital. Schools should be treated as a place where professionals work, and thus their remuneration should be adequate to their competences and skills. There can be no situation in which there will be no funds in the state budget for teachers' salaries.
At the end of the seminar, a debate was held, the subject of which was to define the most important conclusions guiding the activities of social partners in this area from the perspective of administration, employers, employee representatives: Is it a good idea for Social Partners to initiate a debate in individual countries under the slogan "Can Europe afford underinvested education?"?, What can determine its success or failure?, Should it have a European or national dimension? How long should it last? Who should be included?
Summing up, all participants of the seminar agreed that debates are needed both at the national and international level. Participants should include social partners, local governments, the government, as well as users of education. No country can afford underfunded education, and education itself is not a cost but an investment. Necessary changes in education should be spread over time without populism. We need to find such arguments to be able to look at education through the prism of the whole society. It was recognized that the condition for successful debates is the development/preparation of arguments based on facts and the involvement of scientists widely recognized in a given country to present them. For trade unions, this means that they must start this process by involving all their structures, because it is not a matter of one industry, but of the whole society.