BUU, Alm.del - 2012-13 - Bilag 255: Mødemateriale fra sessionen omkring uddannelse i forbindelse med EUs formandsskabsmøde i Dublin, d. 16.-17./6-13

It is a great honour for me to address this conference. As hasalways been the case during the Irish Presidency, the issues wehave been invited to debate are very important and well-timed.The reasons why a new approach to education is needed arequite apparent, and they call for immediate action.High levels of unemployment, particularly youth unemployment– currently at 23.5% at EU level, co-exist with two millionunfilled vacancies. This points to a major problem in how wematch the skills acquired through learning with those demandedin the labour market.

In addition, the demographic change that will lead to asignificant percentage of people into retirement in the nextdecade, will, inevitably create a growing need for replacement:we already know now, for example, that by 2020 more than60.000 doctors are expected to retire annually, while the influxof new healthcare professionals is currently far lower. In thefield of transport we observe a similar trend, knowing that inrailway transport 34% of employees are older than 50 todayand that considerable efforts need to be made to attract youngpeople to the sector.And it is not only the pressure of an ageing workforce thataffects these sectors. The entire workforce in all fields is facedwith fast technological development and the growing trendstowards a greener economy, for example. This will impact thetypes of jobs sought out and the types of new skills people willneed to acquire. As a case in point: by 2020 five million jobscould be created in the energy efficiency and renewable energysectors alone, but people will need adequate skills to be able tofill these openings.A key point then, is that the required level of skills is changingupwards. It is projected that by 2020, 20% more jobs willdemand higher level skills and increased adaptability. Peoplewill have to be equipped with more transversal skills which theycan apply to the increasingly diverse and changing professional2

pathways. For instance, according to the Digital Agenda, unlesswe act now Europe risks thaving 700,000 unfilled IT jobs by2015,.This is why the European Commission has called on MemberStates and other stakeholders to "rethink education", andproposed evidence-based advice to Member States on whatthey can do. Our Rethinking Education Communication and theaccompanying Staff Working Documents set out the policypriorities for education and training systems for the next years.The communication calls on the Member States to put arenewed focus on:othe right skills to be delivered for the workplace;owhatreformswillincreaseefficiencyand

inclusiveness of education;owith which resources and with whose involvementreforms should be achieved.Among the actions announced in Rethinking Education, let mehighlight just a few:to strengthen VET and work-based learning, to pair upschool learning and hands-on experience, both of whichare useful for later employment, an EU Alliance forApprenticeships will be set up in July 2013;3

by 2015, a European Area for Skills and Qualifications willbe in place to promote mobility and allow employers tounderstand qualifications better, leading to easier jobsearch, also between countries;to promote the acquisition of transversal skills, policyguidance on entrepreneurship education, and a range ofother tools will be put in place as of 2013;moreover, the Commission plans to initiate EU-leveldebates about the benefits of investment in differenteducation and training sectors and ways to increaseefficiency of spending, as well as to explore with socialpartners how to raise the level of training for employees.In the field of education and training the primary responsibility isof course with the Member States. The EU has nonetheless animportant supportive role to play.The Commission will give enhanced support to Member Statesthrough its feeding into the European Semester and thecountry-specific recommendations, through a stronger peerlearning process, and through regular monitoring of educationand training benchmarks.This year's Country-Specific Recommendations were proposedby the Commission at the end of May. They include many4

unemployment (for 17 countries), improving the educationaloutcomes of disadvantaged learners (for 9 countries), andimproving the quality and availability of early childhoodeducation and care (10 countries).This approach, based on strong partnerships with the MemberStates, is essential in order to find solutions to the challengeswe face in the field of education.Considering the importance of partnerships, the Commissionwill promote and support these at all levels, in order to betteradapt education and training systems to the needs ofemployers. The proposed Erasmus for All funding programme,starting in 2014, will for example support national-level effortssuch as Knowledge Alliances, which are meant to stimulate thesharing, exchange and flow of knowledge between highereducation institutions and enterprises. The aim is to create acurriculatogethersoastopromoteskillssuchas

The specific focus of this session is on the challenges andsolutions that the digital era brings. This issue is an essentialelement within the wider agenda of “rethinking education”.Digital technologies provide unprecedented opportunities foreducation and training. Knowledge is now available with oneclick, and individuals can learn everywhere, at any time andfollowing flexible and personalised pathways.Internet has led to emerging and disruptive phenomena likeopen access, open source or, in the education and trainingfield, Open Educational Resources (OER). Open EducationalResources are teaching, learning or research materials that arein the public domain or released with an intellectual propertylicense that allows for free use, adaptation, and distribution. Thebest example is probably the explosion of the Massive OpenOnline Courses (MOOCs). In less than two years, the mostfamous MOOCs platform has more than three million usersaround the globe.OER are a necessary catalyst to develop educational methodsthat enrich the quality of the learning experience with practices6

based on collaboration, contextualisation and personalisation.By stimulating cooperative work content, creators collaboratewith users (often peers) through the re-use and sharing ofresources that are adapted to learning contexts and learners'needs. These resources introduce innovative teaching andlearning practices and contribute to open and flexible learningenvironments.However, despite the presence of digital technologies in allfacets of our lives – from work to leisure – and despite theexplosion of Open Educational Resources like MOOCs,education and training systems are still unable to integrate ICTin their teaching and learning practices. Some illustrative data:In higher education, Coursera has already more than threemillion users, but only eight EU universities are involved (plusone from Switzerland). Europe lags behind: according to arecent European University Association survey, the concept ofMOOC is unknown in one third of the 200 European universitiesthat were consulted; and another third have merely internallydiscussed the topic."Integration of ICT" does not mean having and using moreelectronic devices or more broadband connections in theclassrooms. It is not a quantitative issue, but a qualitative one: itdoes not mean "using more", but "using better", exploiting theirinnovative pedagogical potential to enhance the learning7

experience. Finland is a good example. According to a recentsurvey carried out by European Schoolnet and the University ofLiège, Finland is one of the countries that uses the least digitaltools in the classrooms (only 20% of 4thgrade pupils attendclasses where the teacher uses ICT in more than 25% oflessons, in 8thgrade the rate is 29%); and yet the countryshows better results in terms of digital competences.Strengthening the integration of digital technologies andcontents in formal, non-formal and informal education andtraining is the core objective of the forthcoming "Opening upEducation" initiative. This should help to raise the provision ofskills needed by the current and future generations of studentsand workers and to increase efficiency of the delivery ofeducation and training in the EU.Online resources are also an important tool for internationalcooperation. This is why the Commission, in its forthcomingCommunication on "European Higher Education in the World",encourages Member States and higher education institutions todevelop opportunities for international collaboration via onlinelearning. And the Commission wants them to expand the use ofICT and Open Education Resources for new delivery modes towiden access, internationalise curricula and pave the way fornew forms of partnerships.8

All Member States are investing important amounts towardssimilar objectives but often with unequal results and, sometimeswithout continuity in time. The fragmented nature of suchpolicies and actions, as well as the fact that projects are notalways financially sustainable in the long term, represents aserious problem in terms of efficiency."Opening up Education" will call for a more coherent strategy -throughacoordinatedactionofMemberStatesandstakeholders – so as to stimulate, with the use of thesetechnologies, innovation in mainstream education and training.

Ladies and gentlemen,Europe, whose main competitive advantage is its humancapital, is lagging behind.Without a coherent and coordinated action between MemberStates and stakeholders, current problems like the digital divide,digital skills gaps and mismatches or the efficiency of ICTinvestments in education and training systems will increase.And at the same time, Europe will become more and moredependent on technologies designed and produced abroad.

Meeting of chairpersons of transport, communications and

education committees (European Parliament and national

parliaments)