The Council Recommendation calls on Member States to ensure universal access to inclusive and high-quality digital education and training to address the digital divide.
In the context of the European Year of Skills, the Commission today adopted two recommendations for a Council with the intention of assisting Member States and the education and training sector in providing high-quality, inclusive, and accessible digital education and training to enhance the digital skills of Europeans.
The proposals tackle the two major issues that the Commission and EU Member States have jointly identified as being of common concern: 1) the absence of a whole-of-government approach to digital education and training; and 2) challenges with providing people with the necessary digital skills.
Despite advancements and some outstanding innovations, systemic digital transformation in education and training has not yet been achieved despite collective efforts.
Member States still struggle to invest enough money in digital education and training infrastructure, tools, and content, as well as in digital training (up-skilling) for teachers and other staff members and in the monitoring and evaluation of related policies.
The Council Recommendation calls on Member States to ensure universal access to inclusive and high-quality digital education and training to address the digital divide. It proposes guidance and action to implement a whole-of-government and multi-stakeholder approach, as well as a culture of bottom-up innovation and digitalisation led by education and training staff.
The ability of national education and training systems to address the disparities in digital skill levels among various population segments is the second common challenge identified.
Every level of education and training is addressed in the “Council Recommendation on improving the provision of digital skills in education and training.”
It urges Europeans Member States to get a head start by integrating digital skills across all levels of education and training. This can be achieved by setting up targeted interventions for particular “priority or hard-to-reach groups” and establishing incremental goals.
The proposal urges Member States to support high-quality informatics education in schools, mainstream adult digital skill development, and address the shortage of professionals in the information technology field by implementing inclusive strategies.
By facilitating mutual learning and exchanges between Member States and all pertinent stakeholders through EU instruments like the Technical Support Instrument, the Commission is prepared to support the implementation of both proposals.
The EU funding programmes Erasmus+, the Digital Europe Programme, the Just Transition Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, Horizon Europe, and NDICI-Global Europe are just a few of the ways the Commission supports digital education and skills.
The Commission’s facilitation of the recognition of digital skill certifications will be a key action. In order to achieve this, the European Digital Skills Certificate pilot project will be managed by the Commission in collaboration with a number of Member States.
The certification aims to increase acceptance and trust in digital skills certification throughout the EU. This will make it easier for people to have their digital skills recognised by a wide range of employers, training providers, and other organisations.
By year’s end, a feasibility study on the European Digital Skills Certificate will include a presentation of the pilot’s results. Based on the results of the study’s research and the pilot’s results, the final European Digital Skills Certificate will be implemented in 2024. The Commission requests that the Member States swiftly enact the two Council Recommendations that were proposed today.
A High-Level Group on Digital Education and Skills will be established by the Commission to support the implementation of the two recommendations, building on the success of the Structured Dialogue and the group of national coordinators.
The two proposals made today are based on the findings of the Structured Dialogue on Digital Education and Skills, in which the EU Member States were involved from 2022 to 2023. By 2030, the EU hopes that 20 million ICT specialists will be employed in the EU and that 80% of adults will have at least basic digital skills.
The objective of the dialogue was to increase the commitment to digital education and skills and accelerate efforts at the EU level.
The proposals are in line with the solidarity and inclusion pillar of the European digital rights and principles, and deliver on the two strategic priorities of the Digital Education Action Plan: fostering a high-performing digital education ecosystem and enhancing digital skills and competences for digital transformation.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges and opportunities for the education and training community (teachers and students), policymakers, academia, and researchers on a national, EU, and international level.
The Action Plan calls for greater cooperation at the European level on digital education to address these challenges and opportunities.
It helps achieve the objectives of the European Skills Agenda, the European Social Pillar Action Plan, and the 2030 Digital Compass and is a crucial enabler for realising the vision of a European Education Area by 2025. Today’s package is also a key deliverable of the European Year of Skills because it promotes and enhances the digital skills of Europeans.
The proposal is based on research by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre that identified the key trends and lessons that came out of the Structured Dialogue, the Call for Evidence, and the EU Member States’ Resilience and Recovery Plans.