Ministers of Education met last week in Paris (Nov 4 - 5, 2010). The Chair's summary lacks, as it is usual, any specific details.

On the positive side, the document emphasizes trust instead of competition, and education as a public good rather than a private (or mixed) one. It also stresses that the benefits of education go beyond the economic returns and include civic engagement and participation as well as tolerance.

It emphasizes the crucial role of teachers rather than, as earlier statements suggested, focusing mainly on learners.(Hans Schuetze).

It is also, as one would expect from OECD, very heavily focused on HE as a means to economic prosperity and for work-skills for a competent workforce.

It does of course go on to the wider benefits in its final section. But that perpetuates the marginalisation of the also-ran dimensions that some of us are finding too tokenistic. All governments say this - usually they are empty words. (Chris Duke)