European schools: Premier Education
European schools are co-educational public schools established along with the European Coal and Steel Community, now known as the European Union. The European schools were created in order to provide quality and standardized education to the staff of the newly established European institutions. These institutions include the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the Court of Auditors.
The European schools were formally founded through the Statute of European Schools, which is a treaty signed by all the members of the EU. The European schools provide nursery, primary and secondary education. Eventually, this will lead to the European Baccalaureate. The admission to these schools depends on the availability of slots for the student applicants. The teachers in these schools are appointed by the national governments after completing a procedural process.
The establishment of European schools were done in order to standardize the curricula and method of teaching across the different European schools. Different teachers and professionals from Ministries of Education across the continent came together to develop the matters of curricula, appointment of teachers, and recognition of levels attained. Basically, the European curriculum created includes Foreign Language, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Ethics/Religion, and Physical Education. These subjects are required by those in secondary school.
Usually, European schools are built in close proximity to European institutions. The first European school was established at the beginning of the EU, in a suburb in Luxembourg. It is also in this country where most of the European institutions are located. At present, there are a total of 15 European schools, five being situated in Belgium. Other countries which have European schools are Spain, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and France. Most of these countries are the EU founding members, where most institutions are situated at. Except for Spain, all countries mentioned are founding members.
There are different groups that help in making the European schools more focused and represented. These are the Pupil’s Committee, the Parents Association, and the Students CoSup, which stands for "Conseil Supérieur des Elèves" or High Council of Students.
The establishment of the European schools have been a good way of providing quality education to the children of the government workers of the EU. This is a really good way for the whole EU to provide good benefits to the families rendering services to the EU institutions. In a way, this gives the working staff the assurance of good education for their children.
