The European Social Fund (ESF) was set up to improve social cohesion, improve employment opportunities, help raise the standards of living, reduce the economic gap across the EU.
As to education and training, from 2007 to 2013 ESF, funds are to target pupils, students and staff at all educational levels, and parents, by providing them with training opportunities / activities aiming to develop key skills and abilities, as well as foster life-long learning. Projects targeting people in need of skilling or up-skilling, because they face social disadvantage and/or discrimination, are also a priority.
This newly-launched round of ESF education and training programmes require a detailed plan of the actions by individual schools, including a) the so-called self-diagnosis phase, aiming to provide insight into the school's strengths and weaknesses, b) on-going within-school discussions, amongst staff and governors, c) new support roles, such as the overall plan facilitator and the evaluation co-ordinator. The facilitator is to provide support throughout the various phases of the plan, the evaluation coordinator to lead and conduct on-going monitoring and evaluation activities.
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) also aims to promote change in schools, mainly through the improvement and updating of the learning environment through state-of-the-art technological and math/science infrastructure and facilities.