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European Union Declarations and Conventions concerning education for all European citizens are not new. Do they really improve education opportunities for one of Europe's minorities, the refugees? Not necessarily, although they give room for the social agencies, mainly non government organisations, to take action in favor of refugees' education. Firstly, those declarations are examined. Afterwards, the refugees' status and educational situation in the European Union are considered. Finally, a relationship between the documents and the reality is

The current state of special education in Europe must take account of two central developments: changes in the conceptual landscape of special education, and the emergence of national educational reform movements, and their dominance in framing educational debate. Besides to these developments, this article also focuses on four particular topics relating to special education in Europe, namely legislation and its impact on changes in special education; integration of children with special education needs into mainstream education; the emerging role

In this article the vocational education systems in Spain and Belgium are compared as a means to offer some insights into the role that vocational education plays in the context of a country's offer of secondary education. It follows from the comparison that the current Spanish reform has not taken into account the implications of the particular relations that often are established between the general and vocational tracks of the education system, benefiting thus from the experiences of other countries, namely the case of the Belgian reformed system

The evolution of higher education in Europe within the setting of the decade 1985 to 1995 is examined. The article focuses on three dimensions which have served to mould the pattern of higher education during these ten years. These aspects are the quickening pace of international exchange and its implications for the exporting of higher education models; the drive towards delegating responsibility away from central administration down to the regional level of government and, finally, the issue of the accompanying shift in political values and political

Although there is a broad diversity in European secondary education, it seems to be that a common trend is clear, namely that of comprehensivity at the lower level and diversification at the upper level. This trend raises the issue of the nature of the debates implied: are they strictly pedagogical or political? Be that as it may, the article focuses on the exemplification of this common trend throughout different European systems and shows a number of reasons which support its widespread acceptance. At the same time, it also discusses some cases

This article, rather than a simple description of features and facts, is aimed at a revision of the main problems which affect today to the primary level of formal education in Europe. However, for a right understanding of these problems, some reference is made to the historical evolution of "primary education" as a concept and as a set of educational institutions, and also to the different forms adopted by European education systems in terms of institutional and administrative structures. As to the problems, they have been selected having into

As a result of an initiative of the INRP, an European Observatory for educational innovation has been set up. Its main goals are related to research and training in the field of educational innovations throughout Europe. The Observatory wishes to operate as an open data base of innovation and change in European education systems. Thus, it is mainly addressed to researchers in the field, especially those interested in the comparative study of educational policies. Up to the present, five different issues have concentrated the Observatory's efforts:

The process towards an European Union seems not to have taken into account the need for an European dimension in education until recently. However, this dimension has been extremely reinforced by the means of different European programmes which have been launched in the past few years. According to this general idea, this article describes and analyses the main phases in the generation of an European Commission's education policy, as follows: 1957-1970, with a main concern on economic matters; 1971-1986, first steps to a common education policy;

The European Year devoted to education and lifelong learning is intended to be one more step towards public awareness of the relevance of education and lifelong learning not only to Europe but also to every European citizen. To all of us, learning to learn throughout a whole life is the key point. Thus, lifelong learning must be integrated in our daily life and, in this respect, the European Commission has proposed five different goals to be discussed all over 1996. These goals are: to promote the acquisition of new contents; to better link schools