HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN NETWORK

As a result of a proposal for a resolution of Mrs. M. Hoff in 1982 (doc. 1-841/82) regarding the educational problems of circus and fairground children, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in 1984 (doc. 1-1522/83) in connection with the education of children whose parents have no fixed adobe.

As a consequence of this resolution, the Commission of the European Union ( European Communities) completed a study with regard to the educational situation of children of bargee, circus and fairground families within the Member States of the E.U.
The results and conclusions of this study-carried out by Mr. Ludo Knaepkens (B)- are described in two reports. The first report (1987) covers the educational situation of bargee and circus children.
The second report (1988) on the educational situation of fairground children.
At the Commissionâs initiative both reports were discussed with representatives of the Member States and experts/representatives of the travelling populations. As a result of this discussion, Mr. Ludo Knaepkens, on behalf of the Commission, examined the possibility of the creation of a representative European platform for the Occupational Travellers

• On the 8th of December 1988 EFECOT (European Federation for the Education of the Children of the Occupational Travellers) was founded in Brussels.
• In 1989 the European Parliament discussed a report by P. Mark (doc.A2-0379/88) on Illiteracy and Education of children whose parents have no fixed abode.
• On 22 May 1989 the Council and the Ministers of Education meeting within the Council, adopted a resolution on school provisions for children of Occupational Travellers.
• Since 1990 educational actions and projects have been carried out in order to implement the Resolution of 1989. All these actions and projects are based on deliberations with representatives in the field and representatives from the Member States (Ad-Hoc group for Intercultural Education-chaired by the Commission). The projects are co-ordinated by EFECOT and reported to the EU (Budget B3-1003 Intercultural Education) on a yearly basis (Yearly Work Programmes).

The number of partners involved in these workprogrammes has increased year by year.
Since 1995 (with regard to the implementation of the Treaty of the EU/Maastricht) these projects have been organised in the frame of the Socrates Programme (Comenius Action 2).
On top of that, many partners of the European EFECOT NETWORK are also involved in several other programmes of the E.U. (e.g. Leonardo da Vinci, Telematics Applications Programme, Kaleidoscope etc.).
With regard to the European EFECOT NETWORK and the role of EFECOT as co-ordinator and facilitator in all these projects we, refer to official documents published by the E.U.Commission:
In the document entitled: Community of Learning - Intercultural Education (Eur. Comm. 1994) " A key mechanism in the development of educational provisions for the children of occupational travellers is EFECOT (the European Federation for the Education of Children of Occupational Travellers) which was established in 1988.
The Federation provides a link between the Commission, circus, fairground and bargee organisations, and Member States and it collaborates with the Ad Hoc Group on Intercultural Education and Member States in the preparation and realisation of initiatives for occupational travellersâ children.
Activities carried out since 1989 have drawn attention to the existence of groups of travellers not covered by the Resolution, for example seasonal workers and travelling market stallholders. The Commission has therefore supported pilot projects incl children of seasonal workers in Spain, Portugal and Italy and coastal fishermen in the South of France. fon6/494)
(Chap. 8 Outcomes and Recommendations)
Recommendation N¼ 15:

" With regard to the development of actions and projects, the Member States have set their sights on co-operation across the whole of Europe. With regard to co-ordination of the various actions and projects the important role of EFECOT - The European Federation for the Education of the Children of Occupational Travellers - must be emphasised."

In the White Paper "Teaching and Learning. Towards the Learning Society" (COM. 1996)

• page 82 (Chapter 2: Examples of projects within the Socrates Programme): " Distance learning project put forward by the European Federation for the Education of the Children of Occupational Travellers (EFECOT). This brings together 40 national associations and groups responsible for the education of children whose parents are in itinerant jobs (bargees, fairground entertainers, circus artists, etc.). The project is also aimed at parents."
• page 85 (Chapter 4: Examples of projects under the Telematic Project Programme): " Training at home: this type of distance training is the more usual one, since advances in telematics allow top-quality pedagogical support to be provided, coupled with improved trainer-trainee interaction and a media-rich environment. The Domitel project is experimenting with cable TV while TOPILOT has opted for a solution customised for migrant workers based on mobile data communications technology."

EFECOT organised the 3rd European Congress aimed at the preparation of a new workplan for Socrates/Comenius Action 2 (Intercultural Education) entitled ÎIn Partnership We Progress"
In April 1998 the Board of Directors approved the Policy Document "Strategy EFECOT on a medium and long term"