Investing in skills for growth and jobs

The European Education, Training and Youth Forum took place on 18-19 October in Brussels. The aim of the Forum, entitled “Investing in skills for growth and jobs”, was to mobilise stakeholders and policy makers to modernise education and training systems through national and EU policies and instruments in order to enhance growth and jobs. This year’s Forum had a double focus on 1) Education and training aspects of Europe 2020 and 2) the future Erasmus for All programme.
EUCIS-LLL published a Communiqué to the Forum entitled “Civil Society has its say: EUCIS-LLL key messages for the European Education, Training and Youth Forum 2012″ to highlight its key messages on the topics discussed during the Forum. You can watch the Forum online again on http://engage.vevent.com/.
Learn more and see previous editions of the Forum.
Since 2008, the European Commission has hosted an annual Stakeholders’ Forum on EU cooperation in education and training. The purpose of the Forums is to gather a broad group of European level stakeholders and social partners to discuss European cooperation in education and training mainly on topics of a transversal nature. The Forums are organised by the European Commission with the support of the EUCIS-LLL Platform.
Communiqué
CIVIL SOCIETY HAS ITS SAY: EUCIS‐LLL KEY MESSAGES FOR THE EUROPEAN EDUCATION, TRAINING AND YOUTH FORUM 2012
EUCIS‐LLL collected the results of the online consultation launched prior to the European Education, Training and Youth Forum 2012 organised by the European Commission with the support of EUCIS‐LLL. The consultation was sent to more than 2000 education stakeholders, from policy makers to education and training providers. Most of their key messages correspond to the ones from civil society. According to them, education and training should be inclusive and address all types of learners at all ages and adopt a holistic approach including the validation and recognition of non‐formal education and informal learning and their quality assurance. Quality expenditures in E&T should be seen as a smart and necessary investment for the future; financial support and capacity building for civil society organisations is as well strongly recommended as they are multipliers of EU policies in E&T and can voice citizens’ concerns in a bottom‐up approach.
Respondents of the consultation value a lifelong and a life wide learning approach. Education and Training should be inclusive and address all types of learners at all ages, including vulnerable groups and non‐traditional learners. The learning process should follow a learner‐centred approach and include flexible learning pathways. Quality will be ensured through innovative methods.
Non‐formal education and informal learning are key words in the consultation’s answers; they are essential to address learners at risk of drop‐out as well as to ensure active participation and employability. Social engagement in the community like volunteering is the best vector to develop transversal skills and active citizenship among young people in particular. The added value of nonformal education and informal learning needs to be acknowledged through validation and recognition mechanisms on EU and national levels, which will also lead to a stronger quality assurance.
Teachers and trainers should be continuously involved in LifeLong Learning to develop innovative pedagogical methods through peer learning, best practise sharing and also to be updated with the needs and practises in the labour market.
Widening the access to mobility for all learners is also considered as a vital step towards an innovative way to learn. This should happen together with a stronger monitoring of EU tools’ implementation in particular concerning recognition of experience gained abroad. Implementing a bottom‐up approach to get an evidence‐based input from grassroots level in policy making is as well one of the key recommendations of the respondents. Also, partnerships are a good solution in several areas, especially in the framework of the EU programmes “Erasmus for All” (as currently called) and the European Social Fund 2014‐2020: multi‐stakeholders cooperation between parents and/or civil society organisations with education institutions or cooperation between VET schools and businesses as well as cross‐sectorial cooperation between VET and Higher Education are among the solutions considered essential to enable innovative approaches and peer learning as well as dissemination of best practises.
Respondents also underline the necessity to build more bridges between education and work, especially for VET (Vocational Education and Training): more cooperation with employers, more work‐based learning and more career guidance is needed for the learners to be prepared to enter the labour market with the adequate skills. Once on the job market, their continuous training as well as recognition of the skills and competences they acquired is also strongly recommended.
In terms of policy, respondents underlined the requirement for consistency of EU action and a stronger political commitment from all levels. National strategies should be more strongly coordinated and supported with appropriate funding, and challenges should be mainstreamed in all policies.
Investing in education and training is said by the respondents to be smart and necessary in times of economic downturn, as it creates value for the future in terms of human capital. Investing in civil society organisations is in particular the very basis to make sure that they will play their role as multipliers and convey the messages of EU policies to the citizens while creating a stronger sense of European belonging amongst populations and at the same time voice citizens’ concerns. Respondents stress the need to avoid cutting budget lines in the ESF or the “Erasmus for All” programme as they are complementary. Also, project’s impacts should be monitored and high quality projects should be funded through simplified procedures.
Contact: Tania Berman, Communication Officer, +32 2 234 61 38, tania.berman@eucis‐lll.eu.
Note to the editor:
The European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong Learning (EUCIS‐LLL) gathers 31 European networks working in education and training. Together, they cover all sectors of education and training including networks for secondary and higher education, vocational education and training, adult education and popular education; networks for students, school heads, parents, HRD professionals, teachers and trainers.