Brussels, 13/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 13 January, the Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Multilingualism, Androulla Vassiliou, welcomed the publication of a new report analysing problems related to the transition from the world of education to the world of work for young people. Entitled "Education to Employment: Getting Europe's Youth into Work", the report was written by the consultancy firm McKinsey. "McKinsey's research could not be more timely. In Europe, the mismatch between what our education systems are delivering and the needs of employers is resulting in a serious skills shortage and damaging the aspirations of Europe's young people and, ultimately, our future prosperity". The Commissioner said that the report sends out a clear message to policy-makers, educators and business that they must break out of their silos and work together more closely to avert what is a growing crisis.
Whilst Europe is beginning to show some signs of recovery from the crisis, many issues remain, including the lack of jobs and economic growth. Youth unemployment is the most worrying aspect of this. The problems need to be resolved as quickly as possible and the Greek Presidency has already announced that this would be one of its priorities for the next six months. McKinsey spoke to 5300 young people, 2600 employers and 700 teachers in eight member states of the European Union which were felt to be the most representative: five member states were selected because of their large economies (the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain), two were selected because they were particularly affected by the crisis (Greece and Portugal) plus one Scandinavian country, Sweden, a state which is deemed to be a model within the European Union. Together, these countries account for nearly 75% of all young unemployed people in the EU.
The report confirms the high rate of young people who are "NEET" (not in education, employment or training) in the EU, a rate which has risen constantly since 2008, and a youth unemployment rate which is twice the global average. The situation is particularly critical in Spain and Greece, where more than half of all young people looking for a job fail to find one. This is a particularly cruel reality as employers complain that they are unable to find young people with the skills they are looking for. The current education systems are obsolete, they no longer give young people the skills the employment market is looking for, the report stresses. The first part of the report identifies the problems and obstacles behind this situation, analyses the situation in each of the eight countries chosen, and then makes recommendations. "Big problems require big solutions, and young unemployment in Europe is a big problem", the report stresses. It goes on to identify four approaches which, combined, could deliver real and sustained improvements: 1) developing "system integrators", in other words educational systems which open up prospects for young people and give them an overall vision of the situation by working closely with governments, employers and trainers; 2) creating broad collaborations between all players concerned; 3) using technology to broaden the scope of possible solutions: in other words, opening up traditional educational modes by including new online education methods; 4) encouraging the European Union to adopt concrete actions: "because it is a supranational organisation, the European Union is well-placed to create transparency, foster mobility and identify best practices", McKinsey stresses. "The European Union is prepared to play its part, by means of initiatives such as the Youth Guarantee and more funding under the new Erasmus+ programme to provide more opportunities to study and train abroad", commented Commissioner Vassiliou. (IL/transl.fl)