A GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO SAFE AND STEADY PROGRESS TOWARDS A HAPPIER FUTURE
Seminar on strategies of Educational reform in South-east European Countries

Bled, 8 June 2000


Ladies and Gentlemen,
Minister of Education,

I have a very high regard for your seminar on educational reform in South East Europe. This restless part of Europe is striving to leave behind crisis and conflict and to move towards a time of co-existence in a democratic and safe part of our continent, which will be characterised by lasting peace, security, social well-being and respect for human rights. For this process it needs assistance. The responsibility undoubtedly belongs foremost to the countries of the area, but the whole of Europe and the Atlantic partnership are also responsible. The Stability Pact explicitly commits them to help South East Europe.

The people of this area, particularly of the central and western Balkans, have suffered much. Their undemocratic political elite, burdened by an aggressive nationalism, have, to employ a metaphor, halted the tide of time, or even pushed them back into the past. A large part of their education system has literally collapsed. Only new generations, well-educated and brought up to respect the values of democratic societies, can lead them out of this unfortunate situation into an increasingly unified Europe, into a world of security, of the creative co-existence of differences and of social well-being, founded on a respect for human dignity and human rights. And this is why your assistance to these countries in reforming the content as well as the material position of their education systems is a great contribution to their safe and steady progress towards a happier future. It also provides hope to the people living in these countries that one day they will participate on equal terms in the open world of competitive co-operation.

Slovenia knows from its own experience how vital international assistance is when a country is faced with a major project such as school reform, which is unavoidable in the global information society. Knowledge is an increasingly sought-after value and commodity, it is a pre-condition for progress and social well-being. But it is also a new source of division among people, even among social groups and countries, between those who master this knowledge and with it modern, particularly communication technology, and who thus have a guaranteed future, and those who do not possess this knowledge, have no access to the technology and who are therefore forced to live on the margins. Expert assistance and examples of good practice from a number of countries were of great help to Slovenia, with its long traditions, as it reformed its education system, ensuring that the knowledge with which our young people leave school is comparable to the best in Europe. This is why I am even more certain in my belief that you will make a decisive contribution towards a qualitative reform of the education systems of South East Europe. Do this and you will do much for the people of this part of Europe, for their future, and for peace on our continent.

I wish you every success in your work.