The level of personal and professional development of the citizens of the country has a great influence on its economy. The quality of the people potential can help the European Union to decently face the challenges of the modern life. The education and children’s socialization are the key factors of the human capital. The young generation is the basis of the future development of the economy and society. At the same time, the education is a very important factor of people’s self-actualization.

The concept of the cultural literacy

The concept of the cultural literacy was developed by the American specialist in the sphere of education, E. D. Hirsch. According to this concept, the cultural knowledge is correlated with the encyclopedic units from different spheres of science. The essential minimum for the communication can be presented in the form of the dictionary in order the person could use it and, as a consequence, could have a cultural literacy. Thus, E. D. Hirsch and his colleagues have created the dictionary of the cultural literacy which includes about seven thousand names, phrases and events from 23 spheres of knowledge which should be familiar to the majority of citizens.

Cultural literacy in the European Union

The question of education becomes more and more important in Europe. The issue of the access to the knowledge is tightly combined with such problems as social inequality, the dependence of the level of education on the social status of the people. Moreover, there is a problem of the huge wave of immigrants whose level of education leaves much to be desired. The countries of the EU have developed special projects aimed at the creation of the multi-ethnic society, the social integration of the immigrants and which will help to resolve the issues of discrimination and racism.

According to the Horizon 2020 strategy, the main priorities in the sphere of education should be the ability of effective usage and implementation of the theoretic knowledge, high level of the technical knowledge, the formation of the positive social mindset. At the same time, a basic success of every student is a must. There should be no graduates with a low level in the sphere of the humanities and natural sciences and the lack of social competencies. The development and the integration of the pan-European social literacy program will help to overcome not only the educational problems, but also political and social ones. It will also help to increase the level of tolerance and respect in the society.