European Council adopts two recommendations on digital education and skills
Today, the EU Council adopted two recommendations aiming to guide and support EU countries in providing high-quality, inclusive and accessible digital education and training, and in developing the digital skills of all European citizens.
The two recommendations are a step towards achieving the targets of Europe’s Digital Decade - a vision for a human-centric, sustainable digital society which empowers citizens and businesses. Specifically on digital skills, these targets include reaching 80% of adults having at least basic digital skills, and 20 million ICT specialists employed in the EU by 2030.
The recommendations are part of the implementation of the digital education action plan 2021-2027, the EU flagship policy on digital education.
European Commission’s next steps
The Council Recommendation on the key enabling factors for successful digital education and training calls on EU countries to ensure universal access to inclusive and high-quality digital education and training. The recommendation invites EU countries to develop national strategies for digital education and skills, to work closely with stakeholders, to invest in digital equipment, infrastructure, tools and content and to encourage targeted training to support teachers in the use of digital technologies in teaching and learning.
To support the EU countries in their efforts, the European Commission will:
- Launch the 'Digital Education in Europe' survey to gather insights from European schools on their use of digital technologies
- Create guidelines for accessible, well-designed and high-quality digital education content
- Create a higher education interoperability framework to connect European universities, educators and students
The Council Recommendation on improving the provision of digital skills and competences in education and training calls on EU countries to provide digital skills in a coherent way through all sectors of education and training. The recommendation suggests that EU countries take actions to boost the development of digital skills at all levels of education and training, from basic to advanced and specialist digital skills, including AI.
As part of this recommendation, the European Commission will:
- Create guidelines on informatics to help teachers and trainers understand digital tools and how to use them in a confident and safe manner in the classroom
- Facilitate the recognition of certifications of digital skills