Investing in education and training to boost employability

Unemployment, particularly among young people, is a serious problem in many EU countries. However, with over 2 million vacancies across the EU, there is evidence that skills supply is not meeting the labour market’s needs.

ACT

Council conclusions on investing in education and training - a response to Rethinking education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes and the 2013 annual growth survey

SUMMARY

In February 2013, EU member countries’ education ministers adopted conclusions in response to the European Commission’s 2012 communication on rethinking education and the 2013 annual growth survey.

The conclusions highlight priority areas for reform in the education and training fields with a view to improving overall skills and competence levels in order to increase employability and reduce unemployment.

EU member countries agreed on the need to:

• build closer links between their education systems and labour markets;
• promote excellence in vocational education and training and focus it on potential growth areas or areas with skills shortages;
• identify young people at risk of early school-leaving and provide individualised support;
• combat the causes of low achievement with the help of high-quality and accessible early childhood education and care;
• revise and strengthen the professional profile of the teaching profession;
• reduce the number of low-skilled adults through access to adult training and lifelong learning;
• optimise ICT-supported learning and access to open educational resources.

Support and assistance at EU level

Following on from these conclusions, the Commission, among other things:

• is supporting countries by encouraging them to make full use of EU education programmes and funds;
• is exploring options for increasing the level and quality of education and training provision for adults with a view to their re-skilling and up-skilling;
• is proceeding towards the creation of a European area for skills and qualifications which would ensure that skills and qualifications would be easily recognised across borders;
• has launched a new initiative on Opening up education, to provide EU support to increase access to and use of quality-assured open educational resources and ICT;
• has, in cooperation with the OECD, launched actions promoting entrepreneurship education, in particular policy guidance, and frameworks to encourage entrepreneurial education at institutional level.

Lastly, initiatives such as the European Alliance for Apprenticeships recently launched by the Commission should promote apprenticeship schemes and programmes across Europe.

RELATED ACTS

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Rethinking education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes (COM(2012) 669 final of 20.11.2012)

Communication from the Commission: Annual growth survey 2013 (COM(2012) 750 final of 28.11.2012)

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Entrepreneurship 2020 action plan - Reigniting the entrepreneurial spirit in Europe (COM(2012) 795 final of 9.1.2013)

Last updated: 17.02.2014