The European Ministers of Education, meeting in Luxembourg on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 April 2022, want to intensify and improve investment in the education and training sector.
The ministers signed a joint declaration to formalise this political commitment.
They want these investments to be improved qualitatively (and maintained at an adequate level) and quantitatively, and they want these investments to be properly evaluated. The ministers underlined the topicality of the issue in the context of the health crisis, the environmental crises, and the introduction of the education component in the national plans developed under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
In their declaration, the EU27 recommend that the European Commission build on the work and initial recommendations of the expert group it has set up to work on the quality of investment in education.
The ministers also welcome the establishment by the European Commission of a learning laboratory on investment in education.
Recalling the social, but also the economic dimension of these investments, the ministers call on the next rotating Presidencies to pursue a joint dialogue between Education and Finance Ministers “alongside the Commission”.
The joint statement is in line with the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training from the point of view of the European Education Area. This is a strategy that the ministers wish to pursue in dialogue with the relevant international organisations, particularly the OECD and UNESCO.
The education ministers then approved conclusions on strengthening the European mobility of teachers and trainers.
The EU27 intend to develop European mobility for teachers. They invite Member States to establish “mobility windows” in teachers’ career paths and to encourage the creation of a European teaching unit -- “Europe modules” -- in training courses.
Finally, at their meeting on 5 April, the Ministers adopted conclusions on a ‘European Strategy strengthening higher education institutions for Europe’s future’ (see EUROPE 12871/4). These policy commitments are accompanied by recommendations for making the strategy operational. These recommendations include the proposal for a European label to pave the way for joint degrees or a dedicated status for European university alliances (see EUROPE 128781/5).
With a view to the longer term, the European Ministers of Education held a policy debate on European crisis management in the field of education. They wish to call for coordination mechanisms and forums for dialogue, in conjunction with enhanced action by the European Commission, to train students to deal with individual or collective crises.
Link to the declaration (in French): https://aeur.eu/f/14l (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)