Education and Science, EU – Baltic States, Modern EU
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Friday, 29.03.2024, 15:43
European high quality and future-oriented education: effect for economy and business
Human capital is
one of the main European competitive advantages. Besides, high quality
education accessible to all is essential for the future of Europe: it is a key
to helping young people stand strong in life. Modernisation of education spans
from early childhood education and care, through school and onto higher and
vocational education as well as training, laying the foundation for continued
learning throughout a person's life. Thus, good education lays the foundation
for personal development and active citizenship. It is the starting point for a
successful professional career and the best protection against unemployment and
poverty. To make the integration process flourish, all the EU member states
need high-quality education systems. New EU initiatives will help the states
and the education providers take the steps needed to improve opportunities for
all young people in Europe.
EU’s initiatives
Numerous EU
initiatives are in line with the focal program “Investing in Europe's Youth”,
adopted at the end of 2016. In particular, the initiatives are dealing with improving
and modernising education processes, in which the Commission provides a series
of actions to help the states improve quality education for young people.
Youth between the ages of 18 and 30 can sign up for finding
new opportunities across EU, gaining invaluable experience and acquire valuable
skills at the start of their career. The Commission also presented a series of
measures to boost youth employment, improve and modernise education, more
investment in skills of young people, and better opportunities to learn and
study abroad.
See more: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-4165_en.htm;
on improving education, see:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/education-in-the-eu/about-education-initiatives_en.
Through the assistance to the states, the EU institutions
provide high quality education for all young people, in line with the first key
principle of the European Pillar of
Social Rights: that everyone has the right to quality and inclusive
education, training and life-long learning.
These actions are also in line with the ambitions set out in
the Rome Declaration of 25 March
2017, in which EU leaders committed to "a Union where young people receive
the best education and training and can study and find jobs across the
continent".
The Commission's reflection
paper on harnessing globalisation and its analysis of the “social dimension” in made in mid-2017,
underlined the central role that education and training play in determining the
competitiveness and future of Europe's economies and societies.
The latest results of the Programme for International
Student Assessment (PISA)
survey point to weaknesses in competence development at school education
level. Schools could also play a stronger role in promoting social fairness as
well as improving their response to the fast technological and digital changes
that are having a profound effect on economies and societies. Higher education
institutions, in addition to these roles, can help boost the regional economy
and serve as main drivers of innovation.
On PISE issues see: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/
The overall aim of the Commission's initiatives since May
2018 has been to help the EU states by providing high quality and inclusive
education for all young people through a series of concrete actions, so they
acquire the knowledge and skills needed to participate fully in the perspective
growth, being able to respond to new opportunities and challenges opened by
globalisation and technological change. These challenges are to be incorporated
into the national education policies in order to streamline the needs of the
perspective labour market's requirements.
Action areas for the states
Young people need a broad set of competences to find
fulfilling jobs and be engaged citizens; education plays a key role in
providing the best start to achieve this, but action is needed to improve the
quality and performance of education systems in Europe, so they can keep up
with societal change and serve all children and young people.
According to the division of competence in the EU, decisions
in the education area are taken at national and regional level, but the EU
supports the states while fully respecting the principle of subsidiarity.
With regard to schools,
there are three areas where action is needed and where EU support can help
address important challenges: a) raising the quality and inclusiveness of
schools; b) supporting excellent teachers and school leaders; and c) improving
the governance of school education systems.
The Commission will complement states’ actions in these
three areas by supporting mutual learning and assisting national reforms in the
states.
Examples of such support include: boosting competence
development and inter-cultural learning through school partnerships; mobility
and e-Twinning projects under Erasmus+; strengthening peer learning on the
careers and professional development of teachers and school leaders; and
setting up a new support mechanism to help the states seeking assistance in
designing and implementing education reforms.
New higher education strategy
dated back to 2011. In the Commission’s communication from
January 2018, it set out plans for four key education areas:
1. Ensuring graduates leave higher education with the skill
sets they and the modern economy need;
2. Building inclusive higher education systems;
3. Making sure higher education institutions contribute to
innovation in the rest of the economy;
4. Supporting higher education institutions and governments
in making the best use of the human and financial resources available.
See more on the modernisation agenda in:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52011DC0567
Finally, to ensure that higher education can help boost
growth and job creation, universities need to tailor curricula to current and
anticipated needs of the economy and society, and prospective students need
up-to-date, solid information to help them decide what courses to choose. This
is why the Commission presented a proposal
for a Council Recommendation on graduate tracking, as part of the
new “skills agenda for Europe”, which will also cover graduates from vocational education
and training programs in addition to higher education graduates. This will
encourage and support the state authorities to improve the quality and
availability of information on how the graduates progress in their careers or
further education after finishing their studies.
The Commission also proposed a budget for the next three
years and a dedicated legal base for the European Solidarity Corps.
On “Skills agenda” see in: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-2039_en.htm
More information in the following web-links:
- MEMO/17/1402- Questions and answers;
- Factsheet on schools development;
- Factsheet on modernisation of higher education;
- More information on Communication and Staff Working Documents; School policy: http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/school_en;
- Higher
education policy: http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/higher-education_en.
Reference: Commission press release: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-1401_en.htm