Basic education in science and technology

Doc. 8122

19 May 1998

Basic education in science and technology

Report

Committee on Science and Technology

Rapporteur: Mrs Margitta Terborg, Germany, Socialist Group

Summary

Modern society is characterised, among other things, by the numerous scientific and technological issues and inventions that play an increasingly important role in everyday life. The information technology revolution, the development of sophisticated machines, the understanding of the microcosmos, of molecules and atoms are at the heart of many problems being discussed and regulated in our democratic states. The basic understanding of science and technology has therefore become indispensable for citizens' participation in a modern democracy.

This is why in the present report, it is argued that much more must be done to strengthen basic education in science and technology for children, for youth, and for adults in order to promote science and technology literacy. The Council of Europe, through its diverse educational programmes, should make a contribution to this effort.

I. Draft recommendation

1. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe draws attention to the growing importance of basic education in science and technology (science and technology literacy) enabling people to compete at work and in everyday life in an ever changing and globally connected world.

2. Science and technology literacy programmes in general, vocational, higher and continued education have to take account of this. Evaluation of the state of the art, however, reveals considerable deficits and shortcomings both within and outside the educational system, to which the Parliamentary Assembly would like to draw attention.

3. The causes for this are very diverse. In many cases the lack of financial resources makes it difficult to equip educational institutions with sufficient modern technology. Often there are not enough motivated and well-trained teachers. In many cases the available software does not facilitate science and technology literacy. Sometimes also deeply rooted prejudices among teachers stand in the way of acquiring new knowledge and skills.

4. The Parliamentary Assembly recommends that parliaments of member states insist on making basic education in science and technology a key element of educational policy

5. The aim should be to give all young people access to the new communications technologies and, in particular, to promote the interest of girls and young women in science and technology.

6. Science and technology literacy should, however, not be limited to general, vocational and higher education, but should also form an integral part of out-of-school (further) education, including vocational further training as well as educational programmes offered by the media and on Internet. This should enable people to preserve and continue developing - up to old age – knowledge and skills previously acquired.

7. To facilitate familiarisation with the new technologies the Parliamentary Assembly recommends that every two years the Council of Europe and the European Union award a quality label to initiation programmes providing a particularly child-friendly introduction to science and technology literacy. Similarly, those business companies that offer a good example of sponsoring and promoting science and technology literacy should be distinguished.

8. The Parliamentary Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

i. draw the attention of all Council of Europe member states to the importance of basic education in science and technology as an important element of school education and to encourage them to develop framework school curricula in this area;

ii. devote a great deal of attention to the training of teachers for all types of schools;

iii. exert an influence on the development of pupil-friendly initiation programmes and textbooks for science and technology literacy;

iv. devote special efforts meant to promote science and technology literacy for girls and to take special measures to arouse their interest in this kind of knowledge;

v. see to it that science and technology literacy forms part of practical training provided by employers and of vocational education and that it relates to more than purely job-related applications of the new communications technologies;

vi. ask an existing European institution to develop teaching aids and model curricula for science and technology literacy for all levels of school education;

vii. promote out-of-house further education in this area through training courses for those parts of the population who have leaving active working life and to make sure that they can keep pace with technological developments;

viii. support and/or organise countrywide competitions for schools and young people interested in applying their science and technology literacy;

ix. call upon the media to disseminate basic knowledge of science and technology at regular intervals as well as to undertake systematic efforts to arouse interest in this area and to reduce prejudices against it;

x. promote close co-operation between general, vocational and higher education, on the one hand, and industry on the other, and to encourage companies to sponsor improving the technical equipment in general, vocational and higher education.

II. Draft order

1. Referring to Recommendation ... (1998) regarding basic education in science and technology, the Assembly invites its Committee on Science and Technology, in the light of the importance of this question, to prepare a report every three years on the efforts being undertaken in the member states to promote science and technology literacy and to submit this report to the Assembly.

III. Explanatory memorandum by Mrs Margitta Terborg

Table of contents

Paragraphs

I. Initial remarks 1-5

II. The providers of basic education in science and technology 6-7

III. The current situation 8-21

IV. Trends counteracting the aim 22-29

V. Technology deficits 30-34

VI. Remedies 35-52

VII. Educational offers outside the school system 53-58

VIII. Concluding remark 59-60

* *

I. Introductory remarks

1. The rapid progress of science and technology has radically changed our world. Nuclear power and environmental destruction have become threats. Diseases such as cancer and AIDS have not yet been defeated. Global climate patterns are becoming unstable. Natural resources will be exhausted in the foreseeable future. New technologies, particularly in the information sector, have changed the workplace and are creating new forms of global communication and information. The question of economic attractiveness for production sites is causing more and more companies to look abroad for more attractive production conditions. Many sequences of production are being done in global networks. Physical presence in the workplace is becoming less important and teleworking is gaining ground.

2. In order to be able to compete in this changed society, in these new patterns of work and vocational activity world of work and professions, people will need at least a minimum of science and technology literacy. If they do not have this they will be excluded from key political, economic and scientific processes and risk becoming easy prey for demagogues and their interests. Those who fail to adjust to the high-tech world of computers will run the risk of losing their jobs or employment prospects.

3. For this reason European Ministers of Education have made increased efforts since the 1970s to provide science and technology literacy for young people, to be seen today as part of general education and as an instrument for participation in political, vocational and scientific development. The objective is to teach young people the fundamentals of science and technology already in primary education. Children's scientific curiosity is to be aroused. They are to learn how to inform themselves, to articulate their thoughts, and to communicate with each other with the help of the new communication technologies. These basic skills are to be developed and deepened in the course of one's working life and to be preserved over one's entire lifetime.

4. The Committee on Science and Technology of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has set itself the goal of investigating the question as to whether or not our system of education does justice to this high standard, whether communication technologies integrate people or exclude them, whether or not the world of work makes permanent further education possible, and whether out-of-school education is included in this process. The present report constitutes an initial evaluation of the situation.

5. Science and technology literacy is understood to mean basic scientific and technological knowledge and skills needed to understand our physical world, environmental problems and the role and function of technology in a society increasingly marked by global interconnected networks. Science and technology literacy comprises computer literacy. This type of literacy is important to enable citizens to fully participate in a pluralistic democratic society.

II. The providers of basic education in science and technology

6. In our educational system, science and technology literacy is provided primarily in subjects such as Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, as well as in manual skills subjects (at vocational schools). Subjects such as Civics, Sociology, and Economics are affected indirectly, since they help to understand the importance science and technology have in our society. Large areas of knowledge can no longer be taught comprehensively without basic education in science and technology. This ranges from foreign languages learning to art education.

7. General and vocational schools, as well as universities and polytechnics are the traditional places for this kind of learning, but it may also take place in companies and public administration, as well as in further education centres and adult education institutions (from "people's universities" to senior citizen academies). Lifelong education promotes the ability of people to compete in our changed society. Both inside and outside the educational system efforts are being made towards helping the layman find understandable explanations of scientific phenomena and research results. The media have an important role to play in this context.

III. The current situation

8. An evaluation of the situation cannot ignore the fact that the present lack of science and technology literacy observed in many countries is the result of shortcomings in the school system.

9. Many teachers of mathematics, science and technology have an excellent command of their subject, but do not have sufficient teaching talent or training as teachers. They find it difficult to make knowledge taken from their own world of experience understandable to children on the basis of examples, evoking their enthusiasm for the subject in question, and arousing their scientific curiosity. There is too much lecturing, mechanical memorisation, and asking of quiz questions. The critical abilities of pupils are not always developed -- and it is precisely these abilities that are of importance for basic education in science and technology. In Eastern Europe teachers are poorly paid in many cases, which is why it is often necessary to employ teaching assistants who do not have the necessary qualifications and why qualified teachers move into other professions.

10. School textbooks and other teaching materials are often written in highly academic, abstract language, hard to understand, inappropriate for the age group in question. Not enough consideration is given to the range of experience typical of young people. Textbook exercises are often not based on the pupils' life experience.

11. Similar deficits may be found in pupil assessment and marking. This process is often focused too strongly on abstract problem-solving ability and gives too little consideration to the fact that children have different kinds of ability, that they approach things differently, and that abstract thinking is not something that comes easily to everyone. Bad marks in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology have frustrated many young people and destroyed their interest in science and technology once and for all.

12. Advancing basic education in science and technology from secondary to primary education (to the age group of eight- and nine-year-olds), as ordered by numerous Ministries of Education, has not been successful in some countries, since primary school teachers were not sufficiently well prepared for the new task and had themselves not been particularly good in mathematics and science at school.

13. In a number of countries the use of computers as teaching aids in various subjects taught at school has resulted in a radical change in teaching methods and led to more group work, to learning more from one another. It has created an additional motivation for pupils. In other cases it has failed to produce results, since in particular older teachers have been unable to cope with the challenge.

14. Secondary school leaving certificates qualifying for university entrance and sharp competition for university admission are forcing young people to make an effort to get the highest possible average marks. The result is that many senior secondary school pupils avoid mathematics and science subjects.

15. At vocational schools, particularly public ones, teacher training and technical equipment are rarely sufficient to provide the necessary basic education in science and technology. Relevant in-service education and training programmes are still rare, even though an attempt is made in classroom work to compensate for this lack of science in technology literacy. Practical application and use of this knowledge seems to be very limited.

16. Pupils and students in vocational education tend to learn how to use computers at home or on the job, and frequently do so better, more rapidly, and on more modern equipment than is generally the case for adults or teachers.

17. Young people are often taught the use of the new information and communications technologies with entertainment-based methods (e.g. computer games) something that does not promote serious use of these new potentials and in practice their application in on-the-job situations leads for the most part to rigid, uncritical and purely application-related uses. There is a lack of background knowledge and in most cases no critical interest in the potentials and limitations of these modern tools.

18. In public adult education ("people's universities" etc.) there is not always a systematic compensation for what schools fail to provide in the way of basic education in science and technology. Assistance is provided on an ad hoc basis only, e.g. in the form of computer courses (based on a unit-credit system at best). There is a general lack of courses aimed at refreshing knowledge and skills previously acquired and at familiarising the generation approaching retirement age with technical change.

19. The situation in the private adult education sector is not much different. Institutions operated for example by political parties sporadically offer ad hoc courses of organise working parties which do such things as ensure a discussion of the respective party's policies on the Internet. Seminars and training courses organised by private industry only provide knowledge applicable on the given job.

20. The media do not meet the demand for promoting basic education in science and technology either. Television offers some popular science programmes, but they are often obscured by easily recognisable prejudices. Systematic programme series are still fairly rare. Newspapers and magazines often use of specialist jargon difficult to understand which makes it impossible for the average layman to obtain access to basic knowledge. The Internet would offer ideal conditions for disseminating basic and advanced knowledge, but in actual fact it is not used for this purpose.

21. The book market offers a large number of good books and articles aimed at raising the level of general education in science and technology, but people today no longer read as much as was the case in the past. This literature addressed itself more or less to an already interested minority, but not at the vast majority who is in need of a basic knowledge of science and technology as well as continuing education.

IV. Trends counteracting the aim

22. Although schools offer the same courses to both sexes, consciously or unconsciously, stereotypes regarding the role of women in society and at work determine general attitudes at schools as well as the thinking of girls and young women. According to polls, they still dream of becoming such things as stewardesses, actresses, hairdressers, teachers, or shop assistants and only rarely want to enter professions in science and technology. They often shy away from taking intensive courses in science and technology subjects. In the classroom situation teachers, often unconsciously, do not devote to them as much attention as they do to boys. Boys are often more active than girls in working with computers or in doing scientific experiments, they are more assertive, and attract the attention of teachers. Teachers are not used to counteracting this. In some countries this situation has once again resulted in a call for separation of the sexes at school or at least in intensive science and technology courses.

23. There are still too few girls in vocational education trying to qualify for science and technology careers. Women are also underrepresented in science and technology subjects in higher education and research.

24. Since the student revolt of 1968 fundamental scepticism or even outright hostility towards technology have been observed among middle-generation teachers and younger people in many countries. Unrestricted industrial growth, environmental pollution linked to, as well as threats posed by nuclear energy have strengthened these trends. Industry and technology are given most of the blame for the problems encountered and market economy is equated to unregulated capitalism. Unemployment is often felt to be a consequence of progress in science and technology. Schools sometimes turn negative experience with the new technologies into prejudice and in many cases they take a negative attitude towards industrial work environment. Companies, on the other hand, are still too sporadic in their efforts to establish a dialogue with the educational system which might help to reduce prejudice.

25. Not all parents are able to help their children acquire science and technology literacy on the basis of their own knowledge and experience. Often there is a lack of the material prerequisites for instruction and practice on a PC at home. This means an additional disadvantage for children from such families, if they are not given access to the new technologies by some other means.

26. The predominance of English in the new technologies creates additional barriers based on language. The flexibility of computer software in this regard has improved greatly over the past few years, but it continues to constitute an obstacle and in many cases it blocks access to the use of the new technologies, particularly for the older generation.

27. In many classrooms children may be found who face learning difficulties but who, given appropriate support, would do extremely well in mathematics, science and technology. Given better teaching other children with learning difficulties would acquire at least basic knowledge of science and technology. In many countries the plea for equal opportunities in education has stood in the way of promoting talent in science and technology. With the help of educational research we have come to recognise that particularly among those groups of the population whose level of education is lower, e.g. among migrant workers, minorities, or the disabled, gifted persons are to be found, whose development society cannot afford not to support, just as it cannot afford not to help persons with learning difficulties.

28. Central and Eastern European countries as well as some regions of Western Europe often lack money to equip schools with the hardware and material needed for modern teaching. There is sometimes also a lack of funds for maintenance and replacements of such equipment. In many cases attempts are made to overcome these deficits with the help of sponsors in industry.

29. Just as important is the fact that not all European regions provide schools with a mathematics and science branch. Regional imbalances of this kind are often found in less heavily populated rural and mountainous areas. At schools with stress on the humanities science and technology subjects are often consciously neglected or not taught at all, despite the fact that the new technologies have gained importance even for the humanities.

V. Technology deficits

30. Further barriers which stand in the way of acquiring science and technology literacy are not so much the result of US-dominated and oriented hardware and software (these barriers to understanding may be overcome), but rather the result of monopolistic trends observed in connection with software, something which may lead to standardisation, conformism and even manipulation in guiding users through the maze of information on the web. Search engines, so-called "related sites", below-the-surface sales psychology strategies, non-transparent holding companies, all of which are interwoven and interconnected with each another, attempt to steer users.

31. Another example is the technology of encryption. The latter makes safe data transfer possible for private users, for instance when shopping on Internet with their credit cards. The United States has passed restrictive legislation in this area, banning the export of particularly safe encryption systems and thus favouring United States companies in their business transactions. This will make it necessary for Europe to make additional investments to develop encryption technologies of its own. Hopefully the United States Congress will amend its legislation, since existing restrictive regulations are already being circumvented by major companies via joint ventures.

32. There is a general lack of good teaching software for children, pupils and adults. What computer industry puts on the market often does not reflect state-of-the-art knowledge in the field of teaching methods.

33. American-influenced computer languages and user interfaces also make software harder to understand. The way they are structured is not optimally suited to facilitate the use of the new technology. Monopolistic tendencies on the market obstruct or prevent more user-friendly alternatives. Continuing education can counteract this. Programming languages can be learned.

34. The extremely short service life for hardware and software often results in schools working with computers and programmes which are no longer used in industry. Financial resources in the educational sector are often not sufficient to keep pace with technological developments. Industrial sponsoring would be particularly helpful here, and leasing would make it easier to keep up with technological developments. Insufficient compatibility between different kinds of hardware and software sometimes makes their use in the educational system more difficult.

VI. Remedies

35. Europe's ability to compete in a world of global networks will depend to an ever increasing extent on the scientific and technological education of its citizens. The Committee of Ministers should encourage member States to devote greater attention than in the past to this kind of basic education at school and in the educational system. In addition, prerequisites for lifelong development and refreshment of science and technology literacy will have to be created and promoted in the educational system as a whole.

36. Scientific issues should not be presented at schools just here and there, in bits and pieces, but rather in their full context. Young people should not be trained as narrow-track specialists, but rather to learn how to understand the influence of science and technology on our world in a comprehensive manner. Teachers should show how the meaningful use of science and technology could help to solve major problems facing mankind.

37. Young people need to learn how to learn as well as to acquire and apply knowledge (learning how to know). They need to learn how to think and act independently. They need to be able to recognise interrelationships and to select what is relevant from the flood of information available. They should learn to proceed correctly, using scientific methods in the process of making judgement and presenting arguments. Schools should offer all pupils free access to the new technologies (e.g. on the Internet) - also from home wherever this is possible.

38. Teachers of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science and Technology should learn how to present their subjects in an engaging manner and to engender interest in them. Their teaching should relate to life experience of their pupils and to their level of intellectual development. In all subjects, not just science and technology subjects, computers should become indispensable teaching aids, just like blackboards and chalk have been up to now. With computers, teachers can achieve new dimensions in illustrating the subject matter being taught, also with regard to variability and simulations. Provided, of course, they have learned how to handle and make full use of the potentials of the new technology, and provided they have the right software, something which was often not the case in the past.

39. In order to allow teaching to relate to the life experience of young people, school textbooks and other teaching materials should be written in language understandable and appropriate to the age group in question. Schools should offer all pupils free Internet access - also from home if possible. Ministries should become more involved in software development and multimedia packages and not leave everything to commercial initiatives. The development of good programmes will require ministry-co-ordinated co-operation of computer experts, educationalists, subject-matter experts, and experts on teaching methods.

40. If basic education in science and technology is to become ingrained and be preserved for a lifetime, we will have to start teaching it at an earlier age than is currently the case, i.e. in primary school at the age of eight or nine. This will require sufficiently well trained teachers and, consequently, involve major teacher training efforts. Teaching staff will have to realise that acquiring science and technology literacy is as important today as reading, writing and arithmetic.

41. Schools will have to show a stronger interest in the world of work and maintain closer contact with companies and public authorities. They should invite scientists and persons with practical work experience and send pupils to periods of practical training. In this context students should witness the interplay of science and technology in everyday life and be exposed to more than just the piecemeal application of textbook knowledge. Industry and public administration should be willing to provide training opportunities of this kind for thousands of secondary school pupils.

42. Enabling secondary school pupils to take part in discussions of science and technology problems requires good media. Young people need to learn how to obtain information, where to find it and they need to learn how to assess the reliability of the information found, etc.

43. Efforts should also be made in subjects such as Civics, Sociology, Economics, and Religious knowledge/Ethics to show the importance of science and technology in our world, to analyse the question of global networks and their effects on society, as well as to address questions regarding ethics in science. The aim should be educating people not afraid of the new technologies and to use them responsibly.

44. The use of the new technologies should by no means be limited to scientific and technological subjects. In modern language teaching the use of computers is already taken for granted. The new technology is also gaining ground in the teaching of literature, art, and music.

45. The traditional system of pupil assessment should stop branding young people as failures. Instead, it should provide an incentive and motivate them to be interested in science and technology. The desire to do well in final school examinations and competition for university admission should not result in young people taking what they consider to be the easier road to university entrance by neglecting science and technology subjects at school.

46. The equality of men and women in society sometimes requires specific measures for promoting basic education in science and technology for girls and young women. Special further education opportunities (also in the form of distance learning courses) should be provided for women during pregnancy or during periods of childcare.

47. Special extracurricular programmes and special support should be given to both weaker and highly gifted pupils. Weaker pupils need programmes, the speed and developmental increments of which are adapted to their abilities. Highly gifted pupils may be found in a variety of areas, not just in mathematics or science, but they may need special forms of teaching to help them discover and develop their talents. If, for instance, someone is highly gifted in manual applications, but is not intellectually gifted, he or she may not be able to develop the gift in question, if he or she does not have a basic knowledge of science and technology. Thus, special teaching approaches often need to be developed for groups of this kind.

48. With a view to counteracting social disadvantages, all educational institutions should see to it that the quality of education and training does not suffer as a result of a lack of technical equipment at home. If necessary, schools should provide all pupils with materials enabling them to work at home free of charge or for a small fee, or they should create computer labs at school which may be used outside normal school hours. Regional disadvantages may be overcome by distance studies or with the help of nearby urban centres.

49. It is very important to overcome language barriers for migrant workers and linguistic minorities. If at all possible, basic education in science and technology should be provided in the respective mother tongue, or at least additional explanations should be provided in that language.

50. Local, regional and national competitions of a type similar to the "Jugend Forscht"- Programme in Germany (young people at research) could get young people interested in science and technology and show them how innovative thinking can help them to get better qualifications for work. Such competitions are, at the same time, a creative and entertaining approach to involvement with the new communications technologies.

51. Regardless of whether or not pupils opt for Computer Science as a subject at school, they should all acquire basic computer literacy while attending school (i.e. word processing, information retrieval, information processing) as well as a basic knowledge of the role played by the information technologies in our society. This basic education should take place in all school subjects and should be taught by all teachers, not just Computer Science teachers.

52. Responsibility for transmitting science and technology literacy does not only lie with schools, but also with parents. Schools need to inform parents about what is being taught and offer them suggestions and assistance with regard to ways in which they can support efforts undertaken at school. Adult education institutions, too, should offer computer orientation courses for parents.

VII. Educational offers outside the school system

53. Public adult education institutions should offer more refresher courses related to science and technology literacy - with a view to lifelong learning - and set up working groups for Internet use. Courses should also be offered for retired people to make sure that the knowledge and skills they have acquired will not be lost and they will be able to keep up with developments in technology. Public libraries should make computers available to their users for further education purposes.

54. Adult education courses organised in the private sector should no longer be restricted to the teaching of narrowly specialised knowledge relating to specific occupations. Particularly the political parties and trade unions agencies offering courses of this kind should make an effort to teach a broader range of knowledge.

55. Multimedia distance study programmes offered in further education should comply with the above-described minimum standard. The aim should be to encourage everyone to learn how to work on the Internet and to make use of it in further education.

56. The media, television in particular, should focus on the task of familiarising a larger audience - not just a minority already interested - with science and technology literacy, and on increasing their willingness to engage in lifelong learning and testing the skills they have acquired.

57. Further education courses on the use of the new technologies in industry and public administration are too narrow and job-specific. The companies and public administrations in question should provide more broadly based training and take into account the fact that more broadly trained personnel are ultimately a gain for their employers.

58. In addition to the courses provided for senior citizens by adult education institutions, indicated in paragraph 53, it is recommended that funding be provided for so-called "senior citizen academies" allowing older people to benefit from technological progress and to preserve and use the basic education in science and technology they have acquired in the past.

VIII. Concluding remark

59. The list of measures proposed for school and out-of-school education constitutes a programme which many countries in Europe will be able to implement only on a step-by-step basis. Nonetheless there should be an awareness that considerable efforts will be necessary in order for us to be able, more or less, to keep pace with the rapid development of information technologies. The objective is to bridge an eventual gap between a world of work dominated by science and technology, on the one hand, and society in general, on the other, or at least to alleviate differences of this kind. A new division of society, between people who know how to use the new technologies and for this reason find it easier to cope with the world of work, and people for whom this area will remain inaccessible and who are labelled "computer illiterate", must be avoided as far as possible.

60. All the different proposals for improvements in basic education in science and technology are based on an awareness that science and technology cannot be seen as something separate from the culture of our society. Education in the humanities and education in science have long since come very close together even though many scientists have not yet accepted this. It is this integration of broad general education in both science and humanities which modern citizens should aim at and which would allow them to meet the challenges of our time.

Reporting committee : Committee on Science and Technology.

Budgetary implications for the Assembly: None.

Reference to committee: Doc. 7692, Reference n° 2143 of 27 January 1997.

Draft recommendation and draft order unanimously adopted by the committee on 20 March 1998.

Members of the committee: MM. Melnikov (Chairman), Birraux, Mrs Terborg, MM. Tiuri (Vice-Chairpersons), MM. About, Atac, Bauer, Beaufays, Berceanu, Brunhart, Cherep, Cherribi, Chornovil, Cioni, Cunliffe (Alternate: Etherington), Faldet, Fernandez Aguilar, Frey, Ivanov, Janecek, Jeszenszky, Johansson, Karlsson, Kitov, Kittis (Alternate: Hadjidemetriou), Lambergs, Leers, Lekberg, Lengagne, Lenzer, Liiv, Lorenzi, Maass, Melcak, Mozgan, Naysmith, Lord Newall, MM. Niza, Olrich, Onaindia, Pawlak, Petersen, Plattner, Prokes, Prusi, Raskinis, Rokos, Roseta, Ryabov, Steolea, Szalay, Theis, Turini (Alternate: Speroni), Upton, Uroic, Vella, Weyts, Wittbrodt, Yürür, Zhebrovsky, Mrs Zissi.

N.B. The names of those members who took part in the vote are printed in italics.

Secretaries of the committee: Mr Lervik, Mr Torcătoriu