Brussels, 20/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 20 November, the European Commission presented a new strategy - “Rethinking Education” - in order to encourage member states to rethink and reform their education and training systems with a view to making them more relevant for the labour market. The observation is simple - current systems are no longer giving young people the skills demanded by the labour market, and youth unemployment is growing dangerously. Yet if Europe wants to find the sustainable path to growth it must place its bets on the young generation. “Whilst it is true that we need to invest more in education and training, it is clear that education systems also need to modernise and be more flexible in how they operate to respond to the real needs of today's society. Europe will only resume sustained growth by producing highly skilled and versatile people who can contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship. Efficient and well-targeted investment is fundamental to this, but we will not achieve our objectives by reducing education budgets”, warned Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth Androulla Vassiliou.
Today, youth unemployment is close to 23% in the European Union, yet at the same time there are more than 2 million jobs that remain vacant. In a context of general austerity and cuts in education budgets, the challenge is could not be tougher. In a communication that is has just adopted, the Commission encourages the member states to take immediate action to guarantee that young people can acquire the competences and skills required and achieve their objectives on growth and employment. The strategy it proposes calls for a fundamental shift in education, which should focus more on “learning outcomes” - in other words, the knowledge, skills and competences that students acquire - because having spent time in education alone is no longer sufficient. In addition; basic literacy and numeracy still needs to be significantly improved, and entrepreneurial skills and a sense of initiative - which are still often neglected in lessons - need to be developed, according to a study by the Eurydice network (see EUROPE 10733). In order to guarantee that education is more relevant to the needs of students and the labour market, assessment methods need to be adapted and modernised. The use of ICT and open educational resources (OER) should be developed in all learning contexts. Teachers, for their part, should update their skills through regular training. The strategy also calls on member states to strengthen links between education and employers, to bring enterprise into the classroom and to give young people a taste of employment through increased work-based learning. EU education ministers are encouraged to strengthen their cooperation on work-based learning at national and European level.
Among the other measures proposed, the Commission provides for a new benchmark on language learning - by 2020, at least 50% of young people aged over 15 should have knowledge of a first foreign language (versus 42% today) and at least 75% should have knowledge of a second foreign language (versus 61% today). The Commission also, more particularly, mentions guidelines on the assessment and development of entrepreneurship education, and an EU-level impact analysis on the use of ICT and OER in teaching and learning. This is to pave the way for a new initiative in 2013 on opening-up education, aiming to maximise the potential of ICT for learning. In addition, investment is needed to establish world-class vocational education and training systems and increase levels of work-based learning.
Improvement is needed at member state level in the recognition of qualifications and skills (including those gained outside the formal education and training system), and improvement is also needed in schools, universities and vocational and training institutions on access to education via open educational resources. To be more efficient these reforms must be supported by well-trained, motivated and entrepreneurial teachers. With regard to funding, this needs to be targeted to maximise the return on investment. Lastly, partnerships are essential - both public and private funding will be necessary to boost innovation and increase cross-fertilisation between academia and business.
On 5 December the Commission is due to present a series of measures for youth employment including a proposal for a youth guarantee. This would request member states to ensure that every young person received a quality offer of employment or training or further education within four months of leaving school or becoming unemployed. The proposal would provide for full use of EU funding and in particular the European Social Fund. (IL/transl.fl)