European Commission launches two initiatives to make education and training fit for digital era

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities in education in terms of access, quality and digital connectivity across the globe. Indeed, the ETF’s mapping of the impact in ETF partner countries revealed increased risks to ensuring equitable education and training provision and quality as a result of the crisis.

In response to the challenges, the European Commission has set out a vision of the European Education Area to be achieved by 2025 which was announced on 30 September 2020. The European Education Area is underpinned by six dimensions: quality, inclusion and gender equality, green and digital transitions, teachers, higher education, and a stronger Europe in the world.

The Commission’s Communication sets out the means and milestones to achieve the European Education Area by 2025 and is supported by Europe's Recovery Plan (NextGenerationEU) and the Erasmus+ Programme as well as working in synergy with the European Skills Agenda, the renewed Vocational Education and Training policy and the European Research Area.

Within this context a new Digital Education Action Plan has also been adopted which reflects lessons learned from the coronavirus crisis and aims for a high-performing digital education ecosystem with enhanced digital competences for the digital transformation. A European Digital Education Hub will be created to support these endeavours.

The European Education Area and the Digital Education Action Plan will feed into the third European Education Summit, which the European Commission will host online on 10 December to bring Ministers and key stakeholders together to discuss how to make education and training fit for the digital era.

The ETF provides support to the partner countries as part of the EU’s role in globally supporting education by sharing EU policies and practices within dedicated programmes and activities.

_{Photo by Guille Álvarez on Unsplash}