Council conclusion on innovative education and training
The Council of the European Union discussed investing in skills and innovative education and training in their meeting in the end of February, creating a conclusion on the topic. In the conclusion the Council wrote down the focus points in the area of education and skills for the European Semester 2014.
The focus will be on:
- facilitating long-term investment in the modernisation of education and training and the development of skills
- equipping people in all age groups with better and more relevant skills
- smoothing the transition from school to work, notably by promoting work-based schemes
- continuing to modernise and improve educational methods and making full use of the digital learning opportunities.
The Council also highlighted the importance of inclusion and needs of disadvantaged learners in the shaping and implementation of education policies in Europe.
In general OBESSU sees the trend to focus on labour market, and skills from the view of the transition from education to labour market, worrying. The development of skills is a very important process which needs to be improved, also including skills and competences acquired outside of formal education, for example through non-formal education, involvement in youth work or volunteering. Yet we must avoid that the whole discourse about skills stigmatise school students and young people, leading them to feel inadequate for today’s society and the labour market. Unfortunately, very often skills recognition referred to, shifts the problem from the labour market to students, making them feel guilty, insufficient and unprepared for jobs.
