On 30 May, the European Commission has adopted new initiatives on school and higher education. The overall aim of these initiatives is to help Member States provide high quality and inclusive education for all young people through a series of concrete actions, so they acquire the knowledge and skills needed to participate fully in society, are able to respond to new opportunities and challenges opened up by for instance globalisation and technological change, and can tailor their education to the needs of the labour market.

Young people need a broad set of competences to enable them to do well in life, to find fulfilling jobs and be engaged citizens, irrespective of their background. Education plays a key role in giving them the best possible start to achieve this, but action is needed to improve the quality and performance of education systems in Europe, so they can keep up with societal change and serve all children and young people. Decisions in the education area are taken at national and regional level, but the EU supports Member States while fully respecting the principle of subsidiarity.

With regard to schools, evidence from Member States show three areas where action is needed and where EU support can help address important challenges, as the Commission points out in its Communication “School developments and excellent teaching for a great start in life”:

  • Raising the quality and inclusiveness of schools;
  • Supporting excellent teachers and school leaders;
  • Improving the governance of school education systems.

The Commission is proposing to complement actions taken by Member States in these three areas by supporting mutual learning, strengthening the evidence for what works in education and assisting national reforms for Member States that so wish. Examples of such support include boosting competence development and intercultural learning through school partnerships, mobility and e-Twinning projects under Erasmus+; strengthening peer learning on the careers and professional development of teachers and school leaders; and setting up a new support mechanism to help Member States seeking assistance in designing and implementing education reforms.

The renewed higher education strategy builds on the 2011 Modernisation agenda. In the Communication adopted today, the Commission sets out its plans for four key areas:

  • Ensuring graduates leave higher education with the skill sets they and the modern economy need;
  • Building inclusive higher education systems;
  • Making sure higher education institutions contribute to innovation in the rest of the economy;
  • Supporting higher education institutions and governments in making the best use of the human and financial resources available.

Finally, to ensure that higher education can help boost growth and job creation, universities need to tailor curricula to current and anticipated needs of the economy and society, and prospective students need up-to-date, solid information to help them decide what courses to choose. This is why the Commission is in parallel presenting a proposal for a Council Recommendation on graduate tracking, as part of the new Skills Agenda for Europewhich will also cover graduates from vocational education and training programmes in addition to higher education graduates. This will encourage and support Member State authorities to improve the quality and availability of information on how they progress in their careers or further education after finishing their studies.

More information on the initiatives can be found on the website of the European CommissionMario Addison Womens Jersey