Rethinking Education
Opinion factsheet
Ezen az oldalon:
- Education and Culture
- Education
Opinion number:
CDR-2392-2012
Status:
Elfogadva
Objective
support the proposed reform measures at EU and MS level for progressing towards the Europe 2020 headline targets and building skills for the 21st century;
underline the need for smart, efficient and innovative funding and spending in education and training so to better respond to future skill-intensive jobs/expansion and replacement demand, to support growth and youth employment;
highlight the key role of LRAs in education and training and their value added as a player and an interface between the world of learning and the world of work;
support measures to align VET policies with regional/local economic development strategies (namely for smart specialisation, young entrepreneurship) and to develop partnerships between education, business and research;
insist on the need to bridge the gaps between regions and to valorise the activities of regional and peripheral education and training institutions;
highlight the broad mission of education and training, its role in ensuring social inclusion and the need for support at all levels – EU, national, local and regional;
ensure that LRAs continue to play a vital role in implementing and (re)designing the proposed reforms and measures.
underline the need for smart, efficient and innovative funding and spending in education and training so to better respond to future skill-intensive jobs/expansion and replacement demand, to support growth and youth employment;
highlight the key role of LRAs in education and training and their value added as a player and an interface between the world of learning and the world of work;
support measures to align VET policies with regional/local economic development strategies (namely for smart specialisation, young entrepreneurship) and to develop partnerships between education, business and research;
insist on the need to bridge the gaps between regions and to valorise the activities of regional and peripheral education and training institutions;
highlight the broad mission of education and training, its role in ensuring social inclusion and the need for support at all levels – EU, national, local and regional;
ensure that LRAs continue to play a vital role in implementing and (re)designing the proposed reforms and measures.
Impact
The EP resolution adopted on 22 October 2013 refers to the CoR Opinion in its Preamble.
The EP calls on Member States and local and regional authorities, in cooperation with education institutions, to include elements of entrepreneurship education in the curriculum content in basic education, vocational training and higher education (point 23).
Moreover, the EP resolution recalls that it is at the sub-national level that the most accurate and timely information on regional labour markets can be sourced and where local and regional authorities can play a significant role in identifying skills mismatch providing appropriate re-training and vocational training programmes and incentivising investment in response to local demand (point 41 / para. 40).
Specific important aspects from the CoR opinion that have been reflected in the EP resolution:
underlines, in the context of developing transversal skills and individual personal competences for young people, the importance of the sense of initiative, creative and critical thinking and information processing etc. (point. 19 in EP resolution / para. 6 + 25 in CoR Opinion);
calls to make VET an integral part of the education system (point 22 / para. 22) and to ensure cooperation with the business sector in the introduction of entrepreneurial and ICT training (point 22 / para 12, 50);
acknowledges the importance of developing and implementing entrepreneurship-based education systems across Europe, where a special focus should be placed on overcoming the disparities and substantial differences in the development of entrepreneurship education, as evidenced by the 2008 survey on entrepreneurship in higher education and confirmed at the 2011 Budapest high level symposium (point 23/ para 14);
calls on Member States and Local and Regional Authorities, working with the education institutions, to include elements of entrepreneurship education in the curriculum content in basic education, vocational training and higher education (point 23 / para. 15);
calls on Member States [...] to work with regions in ensuring that the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) will be truly complementary and additional to existing regional and national actions to combat youth unemployment (point 36 / para. 22);
acknowledges that poor language skills constitute a major obstacle to free movement of workers and to the international competitiveness of EU enterprises, particularly in areas where European citizens live close to the border of a neighbouring country with a different language; recalls that language learning is deemed to be much more effective at an early age (point 5 / para. 18);
considers it vital to recognise the importance of combining public and private investment in education and training; underlines, at the same time, the need to safeguard against possible undesirable side-effects such as hindering access of socio-economically disadvantaged groups to education and training (point 53 / para. 20).
The EP calls on Member States and local and regional authorities, in cooperation with education institutions, to include elements of entrepreneurship education in the curriculum content in basic education, vocational training and higher education (point 23).
Moreover, the EP resolution recalls that it is at the sub-national level that the most accurate and timely information on regional labour markets can be sourced and where local and regional authorities can play a significant role in identifying skills mismatch providing appropriate re-training and vocational training programmes and incentivising investment in response to local demand (point 41 / para. 40).
Specific important aspects from the CoR opinion that have been reflected in the EP resolution:
underlines, in the context of developing transversal skills and individual personal competences for young people, the importance of the sense of initiative, creative and critical thinking and information processing etc. (point. 19 in EP resolution / para. 6 + 25 in CoR Opinion);
calls to make VET an integral part of the education system (point 22 / para. 22) and to ensure cooperation with the business sector in the introduction of entrepreneurial and ICT training (point 22 / para 12, 50);
acknowledges the importance of developing and implementing entrepreneurship-based education systems across Europe, where a special focus should be placed on overcoming the disparities and substantial differences in the development of entrepreneurship education, as evidenced by the 2008 survey on entrepreneurship in higher education and confirmed at the 2011 Budapest high level symposium (point 23/ para 14);
calls on Member States and Local and Regional Authorities, working with the education institutions, to include elements of entrepreneurship education in the curriculum content in basic education, vocational training and higher education (point 23 / para. 15);
calls on Member States [...] to work with regions in ensuring that the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) will be truly complementary and additional to existing regional and national actions to combat youth unemployment (point 36 / para. 22);
acknowledges that poor language skills constitute a major obstacle to free movement of workers and to the international competitiveness of EU enterprises, particularly in areas where European citizens live close to the border of a neighbouring country with a different language; recalls that language learning is deemed to be much more effective at an early age (point 5 / para. 18);
considers it vital to recognise the importance of combining public and private investment in education and training; underlines, at the same time, the need to safeguard against possible undesirable side-effects such as hindering access of socio-economically disadvantaged groups to education and training (point 53 / para. 20).
Essential points
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- supports the call to enhance efforts on developing transversal skills, particularly entrepreneurial skills;
- considers it essential to build bridges between informal and non-formal learning and formal education. Too often curriculum development at second level is focused on acquiring information, rather than focusing on strengthening understanding, the learning of key skills and developing skills to deal with and navigate their way through this world;
- in the present economic climate, considers it vital to recognise the importance of combining public and private investment in education and training. It is not just important but vital to have totally inclusive policies;
- underlines that in relation to multilingualism and media literacy the specificity of the teaching needs and the rapidly changing curricula require investments in teaching instruments, broader partnerships and constant vigilance. ICT has unlocked enormous potential to improve learning outcomes;
- welcomes the Commission's intention to continue to engage with the stakeholders to take forward the proposed strategy for "Rethinking Education" in a concerted push for reform and reconfirms CoR interest in continuing to work with the European Commission and other partners in the field.