The European Ministers of Education and Youth stressed the importance of caring for young learners during and after the Covid-19 pandemic in a videoconference on Monday 30 November. During the morning debate on international exchanges, many of them insisted on the need to support youth organisations.
For her part, Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, who is responsible for this dossier, has announced two key measures for 2021: – an EU Council Recommendation on e-learning and distance learning for primary and secondary education; – updated policy guidelines to remove obstacles to cross-border volunteering and solidarity of young people, based on the review of the 2008 recommendation. This will be an opportunity to address “the inclusion, quality and recognition of cross-border experiences”, she said.
The Ministers for Youth also took note of two documents adopted by written procedure on 20 November, namely Council conclusions on promoting young people’s democratic awareness in Europe and a resolution on the framework for a European agenda for youth work.
Portugal has also presented its two priorities for youth when it takes over the rotating Presidency of the EU Council, namely: – strengthening governance at all levels when promoting youth participation in decision-making processes; – promoting a rights-based approach to youth.
It announced a youth conference on 12-15 March and a launch event in June on the solidarity body.
For their part, Education Ministers discussed the European Education Area and the next strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training.
They also took note of the recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) and the conclusions on digital education adopted on 24 November.
See the Youth documents: https://bit.ly/2JbsyHD and https://bit.ly/37ljBmR and the Education documents: https://bit.ly/2JrHGQM and https://bit.ly/3moHJvk (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)