Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2023)206 - Improving the provision of digital skills in education and training - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2023)206 - Improving the provision of digital skills in education and training. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2023)206 |
| date | 18-04-2023 |
1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
In her 2022 State of the Union address, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, highlighted the shortage of skills as a major challenge and proposed that 2023 would be the European Year of Skills1.
While digital transformation is pervasive and technology is increasingly becoming part of everyday life, many people still lack the digital skills needed in today’s society and economy2. The COVID-19 crisis showed the risk of exacerbating inequalities due to an insufficient level of digital skills3. It also revealed that technology, if not used wisely, can have a negative impact on personal well-being and mental health4. The ground-breaking potential of some emerging technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence (AI), has made it clear that digital skills are key to reap the opportunities offered by these tools while addressing possible risks. Demand for basic digital skills is growing, new specialist digital skills are emerging across sectors and occupations5, and ICT specialists are in short supply.
The Digital Compass6 and the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan7 set ambitious targets to support Member States in their digital transformation. They aim at ensuring that 80% of adults have at least basic digital skills and that 20 million ICT specialists are employed in the EU, with more participation from women. These targets are reflected in the decision establishing the Digital Decade policy programme 20308 and are complemented by a target set in the European Education Area9 of reducing the rate of low-achievers in computer and information literacy to less than 15%.
As stated in the Declaration on digital rights and principles10, acquiring digital skills is a right11. Recognised as a key competence for lifelong learning12, digital skills involve the confident, critical and responsible use of, and engagement with, digital technologies for learning, work, and participation in society13. This also applies to personal finances, where the increased digitalisation of financial products and services has made digital skills essential for accessing financial services and making informed decisions. Digital skills also contribute to the resilience of the Union economy.
Digital skills development is one of the priorities of the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027, which sets Commission’s long-term approach to the digital transformation14 in education and training. Its vision was endorsed in the Council Conclusions on digital education in Europe’s knowledge societies15, where Member States invited the Commission to launch a reflection on the digital transformation of education and training systems. In the 2021 State of the Union address, President von der Leyen stressed that digital education and skills need leaders’ attention and launched a structured dialogue to support Member States with an integrated, coherent and more ambitious approach16. The European Council Conclusions of February 2023 state that more ambitious actions should be taken to further develop the skills that are required for the green and digital transitions17.
The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), part of the EU’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been designed as a key instrument for accelerating the digital transition. National plans submitted by Member States include a wide range of reforms and investments in the area of digital skills, as for instance curriculum reforms and upskilling and reskilling opportunities, for teachers, trainers and the workforce18. At the same time, the structured dialogue confirmed the political importance that governments give to the need to take coordinated action. With regard to digital skills, three topics have featured prominently in Member States’ discussions : 1) reforms in formal education settings; 2) new large-scale initiatives outside formal education; 3) ongoing efforts to improve monitoring, evaluation and assessment. The need for more guidance and support on digital skills at EU level emerged as a general request.
This proposal for a Council Recommendation aims to support Member States in addressing challenges related to digital skills development and the ability of education and training systems to support their provision19. The proposal and acknowledges the importance of digital skills for all and takes into consideration all levels of education and training and calls for engagement by various stakeholders. Its implementation will support the attainment of the EU-level targets on digital skills, including by addressing the social and territorial dimension of existing skill gaps. The proposal is aligned with the results of the Report of the Conference on the Future of Europe.20
This initiative complements the proposal for a Council Recommendation on the key enabling factors for successful digital education and training of the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027.
• Challenges to be addressed by this proposed Council Recommendation
The low level of basic digital skills and the growing need for both advanced and specialist digital skills are a major concern across Member States.
Only 54% of people (aged 16-74) have at least basic digital skills21 - against a EU-level target of 80%. There are wide differences between Member States and within countries due to a gap between rural areas and cities, and to the high impact that age, socio-economic background and education have on the level of digital skills22.
More than a third of the EU’s labour force lacks the digital skills required in most jobs23, despite a rising demand across occupations, especially in non-tech industries24.
Digital skills level of European youth (aged 16-24) is higher than that of the overall population (54%). Still, fewer than four in five young people (71%) have at least basic digital skills25. In 2018, on average across Member States participating in the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), approximately 34% of students were rated as underachieving26 in digital skills (against a target of 15%) with great differences linked to gender27, socio-economic, migrant or Roma background28.
The number of employed ICT specialists (9 million in 2021) is not enough to meet the needs of the labour market and is far below the EU-level target of 20 million. Leveraging legal migration channels and recognising skills and qualifications acquired in third countries can help in attracting more talents to the EU29. The sector also suffers from a severe gender imbalance with 81% of employed ICT specialists being male30. Encouraging more women to work in this field is of crucial importance to tackle gender segregation and address staff shortages.
The ongoing digital transformation requires education and training systems to adapt and respond to the learning needs of people using technologies that rapidly change, often in a disruptive manner. Long-term evidence and recent stakeholder consultations point to an inadequate provision of digital skills in education and training as the root cause of underachievement.
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) plays a fundamental role in supporting children to become active citizens and learners. Research shows that children are engaging with digital technologies from an increasingly younger age, and mostly from home, by mirroring adult behaviour and following a trial-and-error strategy that is not free from risks31. Digitally competent professionals at ECEC level can support children and their families in developing the skills needed for their safe interaction with technology whilst also ensuring equal opportunities.
In formal education (primary and secondary), digital skills are developed in a variety of ways32. Many Member States recently changed or are currently reviewing their curricula: while half of the reforms mentioned in the structured dialogue are transversal, about a third of them consists of introducing a separate subject in the curriculum. An emerging trend focuses on including learning outcomes on informatics for both lower and upper secondary education.
The cross-curricular provision, in which digital skills are taught in most subjects, helps to engage a greater number of teachers and students. The trend to develop digital skills through a separate subject, such as informatics, is confirmed by recent studies, which show various implementation methods with a provision that often starts at secondary level and is partly optional, thus failing to reach all students33. Some countries include aspects of digital skills or informatics within another subject (like mathematics or science) to avoid creating a new subject and to improve the effectiveness of their educational offer.
A dedicated curriculum for digital skills (be it a separate subject or a topic embedded across all subjects or in another subject) needs to be complemented with a plan to make it understood, endorsed, delivered, supported and assessed by digitally competent teachers. Challenges arise in ensuring quality teaching, relevant resources, gender-balanced uptake, and proper assessment.
In recent years, major efforts have been made in fostering the digital transformation of vocational education and training (VET). This will continue as part of the national plans to implement the 2020 VET Council Recommendation34. However, many initiatives focus on the use of technology for teaching and learning, rather than strengthening digital skills development35. While both aspects are important, policies in VET tend to group the digitalisation of the sector and actions focused on learners’ digital skills. Evidence from a 2020 study shows that, in initial VET, digital skills are commonly integrated across subjects, rather than as a separate subject. Despite high demand for the development of specialist digital skills (which would include aspects of informatics), the VET sector faces challenges in responding to these demands, with notable disparity across contexts and among Member States36.
The higher education learning offer needs to be both general and sector-specific37. At university level, digital skills are developed mainly through programmes for ICT specialists, despite the importance they have for all professions. In 2019, less than 5% of young people opted to enrol in ICT-related programmes, with low participation of women38. The structured dialogue highlighted Member States’ concerns but also efforts to develop digital skills across a broad range of higher education courses and to increase the number of students, especially women, acquiring advanced digital skills. Available data shows that the EU suffers from a lack of expertise in teaching advanced digital technologies39. Mutual recognition of qualifications between Member States suffers from differences arising from relevance and content of education and training for ICT specialists, thus hampering the mobility of ICT talents. In this context bodies like the ENIC-NARIC networks40 or quality assurance agencies foster collaboration on academic recognition of qualifications.
Adult learning is the sector presenting the most diverse challenges. Despite the importance of upskilling and reskilling, the provision of digital skills for adults remains scattered. Even where there is a plethora of options, there is often no regional or national overview of the courses on offer. In addition, the challenges related to its accessibility create further inequalities41. This situation is common across adult learning, rather than specific to digital skills. In this regard, short courses leading to micro-credentials help provide flexible learning opportunities for adults42.
The structured dialogue has indicated a trend of new large-scale digital skills initiatives for disadvantaged groups and unemployed people43. Most Member States referred to major difficulties in improving adults’ digital skills, due to a lack of funding but also of motivation and outreach. Some also mentioned that companies, especially SMEs, lack the financial and human resources to train and upskill their staff. In some cases, Member States flagged the need for more EU support to increase participation, reach vulnerable groups, scale up small or pilot initiatives, and monitor participation rates and outcomes. Despite the 60% EU headline target, adult participation in learning, including on digital skills, remains limited in most Member States44.
Besides sector-specific issues, there are general challenges that are relevant for all levels of education and training:
- Specialised teaching staff: it is difficult to recruit, retain and train teachers, especially in informatics and other specific or advanced digital areas. There are multiple factors hindering developments: few people specialise in these domains and those that do are easily attracted by more competitive offers in the private sector. Upskilling/reskilling programmes and existing supporting measures are insufficient to satisfy the needs of teachers, especially when dealing with specific or advanced digital areas.
- Progression of programmes45: while most Member States have developed strategies for digital skills, few take a comprehensive approach to ensure purposeful sequencing of programmes across all levels of education and training. There are challenges to ensure a consistent implementation of digital skills policies at all levels and in all sectors of education and training.
Member States highlight the need for EU support for peer learning and exchanges on the development and assessment of digital skills within and outside formal education and training. They also call for exchanges on how to coordinate efforts addressing the digital skills gap and see a role for the Commission in funding further research and providing technical support.
• The objectives of the proposed Council Recommendation
Contents
- promote a quality, inclusive and consistent approach to the development of digital skills at all levels of education and training, with support from all sectors of society and the economy;
- enable cooperation among Member States in promoting and providing quality education in informatics at school;
- support higher education in the development of digital skills across disciplines, address the need for specialist and advanced digital skills, foster expertise in developing multi-disciplinary courses in cutting-edge technologies;
- support the provision of digital skills in VET and for adults, and improve its accessibility;
- foster actions connected to digital skills certification and mutual recognition;
- support the recruitment, training and retention of specialised teachers and trainers.
• International dimension
The proposal is based on and complements work at the international level. It contributes to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)46, in particular SDG 4 and partially SDGs 5, 8 and 10.
The initiative is consistent with ongoing work of the United Nations Secretary-General’s roadmap for digital cooperation and aligned with the Call for Action on Digital Learning of the Global Transform Education Summit.
The proposal also contributes to the objectives of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy to build sustainable and trusted connections that work for the people and the planet.
The results of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Skills Toolkit and Outlook have been taken into consideration in preparing the proposal. The EU target on low-achieving eighth graders is based on ICILS which enables international comparability.
• Tools for supporting the implementation
The Commission’s intention is to set up a High-Level Group on Digital Education and Skills to take forward in a formal setting the informal coordination between National Coordinators under the Structured Dialogue. This would bring together expertise from the worlds of education and digital and could be used to develop guidelines or other tools to facilitate the further evolution of digital education.
- the Working Group on Digital Education: Learning, Teaching and Assessment;
- EU instruments, such as the Technical Support Instrument, and EU funding, such as Erasmus+, European Social Fund Plus, Just Transition Fund, European Regional Development Fund, Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, and NDICI-Global Europe;
- existing tools, platforms and communities such as DigComp, European Digital Education Hub, EU Code Week, Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition/Platform, Europass, EPALE, Digital Education Hackathon, Pact for Skills;
- improved evidence and analysis through the Learning Lab on Investing in Quality Education and Training;
- international assessments on digital skills such as ICILS, PISA, and the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC);
- reporting and monitoring under the European Education Area strategic framework (including the Education and Training Monitor) and the Digital Decade.
• Complementarity with other initiatives
- the European Education Area Communication47;
- the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-202748;
- the European Skills Agenda for Sustainable Competitiveness, Social Fairness and Resilience49;
- the Digital Decade Policy Programme50
- the European Pillar of Social Rights and its action plan51;
- the Union of Equality strategies;
- the European Year of Skills52.
- the Harnessing Talent in Europe’s Regions Communication53.
2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
• Legal basis
This proposal is in conformity with Articles 165 and 166 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
• Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)
This proposal is in conformity with the principle of subsidiarity as provided for in Article 5(3) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). It fully respects the responsibility of Member States for the content of teaching, the organisation of education systems and their cultural and linguistic diversity, while reflecting the supplementing and supporting role of the EU and the voluntary nature of European cooperation in education and training. The initiative does not propose any extension of EU regulatory power or binding commitments on Member States. Its European added value lies in the ability of the EU to mobilise political engagement and to support education and training systems through policy guidelines, common tools and instruments.
• Proportionality
This proposal complies with the principle of proportionality as provided for in Article 5 i TEU. Neither the content nor the form of this proposal exceeds what is necessary to achieve its objectives. The commitments Member States will make are of a voluntary nature and each Member State remains free to decide which approach to take.
• Choice of the instrument
To contribute to the achievement of the objectives referred to in Articles 165 and 166 of the TFEU, the Treaty provides for the adoption by the Council of recommendations, on a proposal from the Commission.
A Council recommendation is an appropriate instrument within the field of education and training, where the EU has a supporting responsibility. Recommendations have frequently been used for European action in these areas.
3. RESULTS OF EX POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
• Ex post evaluations and fitness checks of existing legislation
The Commission will undertake a comprehensive review of the Digital Education Action Plan in 2024 to assess its outreach and impact.
An assessment of the opportunities and challenges that digital transformation brings to education and training was made in the staff working document accompanying the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-202754.
This proposal builds on those findings as well as on the outcomes of the structured dialogue, which provided a forum to discuss the readiness of existing national frameworks and legislation to respond to the needs related to digital education and skills. The proposal builds upon previous work done in the framework of the Digital Decade, including trends observed in the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI).
• Stakeholder consultations
The proposal is based on the outcomes of the open public consultation organised in 2020 for the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-202755, the results of the structured dialogue, and the inputs gathered during an extensive consultation process56.
• Collection and use of expertise
- outcomes of the structured dialogue with Member States on digital education and skills;
- lessons learnt from the implementation of the European Education Area strategic framework, the Education and Training Monitor, and messages of various working groups, including the Working Group on Digital Education: Learning, Teaching and Assessment;
- analysis of the results of the open public consultation on the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 and the accompanying Staff Working Document;
- a wide range of reports and studies on relevant topics including the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, quality investments in education and training, and the digital skills gap. A literature review and two studies provided information on the provision of digital skills for young people and adults across Europe57;
- evidence-based knowledge and advice from the European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE) and the expert groups working on the guidelines on tackling disinformation and promoting digital literacy58 and on the ethical use of AI and data in teaching and learning59;
- evidence and input from Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS);
- ad hoc analysis of reports and studies from the OECD, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the Joint Research Centre, CEDEFOP and Eurydice as well as projects from the Technical Support Instrument.
• Impact assessment
Given the activities’ complementary approach to Member State initiatives, the voluntary nature of the proposed activities and the scope of the impacts expected, an impact assessment was not conducted. The development of the proposal was informed by previous studies, an open public consultation and targeted stakeholder consultations60.
• Regulatory fitness and simplification
Not applicable.
• Fundamental rights
This proposal is in line with the fundamental rights and principles recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, notably the right to the protection of personal data laid down in Article 8, academic freedom in Article 13, the right to education in Article 14, the right to non-discrimination in Article 21 and right to integration of persons with disabilities in Article 26. The measures will be pursued in accordance with EU law on the protection of personal data, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/67961 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation).
4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
This initiative will not require additional resources from the EU budget.
5. OTHER ELEMENTS
• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements
To support implementation, the Commission proposes, in cooperation with Member States, to develop peer learning activities and the identification of good practices, as well as research, guidance material, handbooks and other concrete evidence-based deliverables. The Commission intends to report on the use of the Recommendation within the European Education Area strategic framework.
• Explanatory documents (for directives)
Not applicable.
• Outline of the proposal for a Council Recommendation and staff working document
In line with the European Year of Skills, the proposal recognises the role that digital skills have in the context of the twin transition, for active participation in society, social inclusion, equal opportunities for all, well-being, security and territorial cohesion, as well as employability, innovation, productivity, and growth.
By following up on the outcomes of the structured dialogue and considering the EU-level targets on digital skills, the proposal aims to improve the provision of digital skills at all levels of education and training, including by strengthening ongoing efforts and calling for greater cooperation between education and training, the private sector and civil society.
It proposes guidance and action that can be pursued by Member States to better develop all levels of digital skills (basic, advanced, specialist) in education, training and lifelong learning. It also sets out Commission’s intention to supporting and complementing Member State actions in this area.
The accompanying staff working document sets out stakeholder opinions and provides examples of existing evidence, policies and practices that underpin the proposed Council Recommendation.