What needs to be done to promote digital skills early on and at all stages of education and training? And what is needed in terms of investment and policy reforms? The European Commission wants to hear your views.
The need for improving everyone’s digital skills was clear long before the COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore the pandemic made clear how crucial it is to create and put in place an environment that offers inclusive, high-quality, and accessible digital education. For this reason, in order to improve the access to digital education and promote digital skills to everyone, an effort is needed from the whole of society, requiring the active involvement of governments, education and training institutions, the private sector and the general public.
In this regard, and in the context of the implementation of Digital Education Action Plan and the Structured Dialogue on Digital education and skills, the European Commission has launched two new initiatives that aim to gather feedback from civil society and set out what needs to be done to:
- Ensure everyone has access to digital education;
- Promote digital skills early on and at all stages of education and training.
Two calls for evidence: what do they aim to achieve?
The first Call for Evidence (‘Digital education – enabling factors for success’) aims to support Member States in the digital transformation of their education and training systems by outlining the key enabling factors for an effective and inclusive digital education ecosystem. The initiative covers all levels of education and training, and will contribute to the modernisation of education and training system, enhancing territorial cohesion, social inclusion and equity, while contributing to driving economic growth, job creation and competitiveness.
The second Call for Evidence (‘Digital skills – improving their provision’) aims to promote a quality, inclusive, coherent and coordinated approach to the
provision of digital skills across all levels of education and training, and to contribute to the achievement of the EU digital skills targets outlined by the Digital Decade: 80% of adults with at least basic digital skills and 20 million ICT specialists employed in the EU by 2030.
The European Commission will use evidence gathered through these Calls for two Proposals for Council recommendation in the area of digital skills and education, planned for the first quarter of 2023.
The feedback is now open, so have your say! The deadline to leave your feedback is 16 September 2022 (midnight Brussels time).
Both initiatives aim to gather feedback especially from policy-makers in Member States (e.g. ministries responsible for education and training, employment, industry and digital transformation policies), local and regional authorities, digital technology providers and educational technology representatives.
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