Brussels, 24/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - European Education Ministers are eagerly awaiting the new European Commission strategy for new skills in Europe. This feeling was expressed during the debate the Ministers held on Wednesday 24 February and in the resolution regarding the role of skills and qualifications that they subsequently adopted.
“Almost 40% of companies are experiencing difficulties in recruiting staff with appropriate skills, including digital skills. At the same time, it is estimated that around 25% of highly skilled young workers are overqualified for the posts they occupy”. It is on the basis of this astounding observation that the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU began the Education Council. The Council was attended by Commissioner Marianne Thyssen (Employment) and Tibor Navracsics (Education), who announced the forthcoming publication of their strategy.
At the opening of the session, Commissioner Navracsics indicated “We need to raise the level of basic skills in numeracy, literacy and information technology. Qualifications should not, however, be subject to a reductionist definition and we do not require a sectoral approach. Good qualifications are, for example, a spirit of enterprise, creativity, resilience, languages and communication, etc.”. The Norwegian Minister for Education and Research, Torbjorn Roe Isaksen, shared his experiences with his European counterparts by focusing on the importance of a “multidisciplinary approach” by way of meetings with employers and workers' representatives, as well as a flexibility that is not restricted to one specific approach that could prove inappropriate in a few years time.
Ministers then expressed their points of view and shared experiences on the basis of a working document prepared by the Dutch Presidency. They were asked to give their views about the need to redefine study programmes and teaching methods, the need to develop partnerships with enterprise and the possible use of EU (improved) instruments. Germany welcomed the Commission approach to “transcend employability and target excellence from the very beginning”. It also called on the next President of the Council to map out the formal and informal skills required in the current period leading up to 2018. Finland called on the European Union to make the Bologna certification system more binding. France believes that EU tools such as the Europass and European learning credits system for education and vocational training should be optimised. A significant number of member states also highlighted the appropriateness of so-called transversal skills.
Ministers concluded their debate on skills by adopting a resolution on the promotion throughout the EU of socioeconomic development and inclusion through education. This text constitutes the 2016 contribution from the education and training sector to the budgetary process in the “European Semester” (see other article) and also calls for targeted reforms in the education systems, as a means of improving their performance and learning results. It also calls for investment in education and training, whilst clarifying that “This does not mean increasing budgets in all cases but rather, improving the targeting of spending and planning effective incentives that are likely to improve quality”.
It should be pointed out that the “strategy for new skills in Europe” will be presented by the Commission in May and is expected to examine skills development and deficits, as well as emphasise employability, mobility, competitiveness and fair and balanced growth. It will also particularly examine the skills needed at all levels, in an effort to tackle the challenges that arise and maximise the use of the latest innovations, particularly in the digital arena and to ensure that everyone is able to develop and improve their skills so that they can keep up with the constant developments on the labour market and in society. The strategy will propose specific EU action areas and support the concerted efforts made by the member states to promote the active participation of the actors involved in education and training sectors and on the labour market. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)