Activities of Dace MELBĀRDE related to 2020/2243(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
The European Education Area: a shared holistic approach (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Education Area: a shared holistic approach
Amendments (44)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
— having regard to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 and in particular target 4.7,
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
— having regard to the Council Recommendation of 22 May 2018 on key competences for lifelong learning1a, _________________ 1ahttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:3201 8H0604(01)&from=EN
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas private average global rate of return for education remains high and stable over the decades;1a _________________ 1a Psacharopoulos, G. and H. A. Patrinos (2018) Returns to Investment in education: A Decennial Review of the Global Literature, World Bank Group, April 2018. Available at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bits tream/handle/10986/29672/WPS8402.pdf
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the economic, social and political challenges the EU and its Member States are faced with today, including lack of competitiveness, climate change, various forms of extremism and populism, and the COVID- 19 pandemic, requirnecessitate appropriate high quality educational answd, wherse andppropriate, concerted European action;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the realities of educational infrastructure, expertise and resources vary within and across Member States, and whereas those differences have become further pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular in the digital sphere;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the realities of educational infrastructure, expertise and resources varresources as well skills and expertise vary vastly within and across Member States, and whereas those differences have become further pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas Parliament has called on Member States to prioritise investments in education and training, valuing education spending as an investment in our common future; whereas quality investment in education has a higher return and as such quantitative spending on education alone does not necessarily deliver the desired results; whereas a number of Member States with modest educational spending have world-class competitive education systems;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas Member States have not fully achieved the objectives and benchmarks of the Education and Training 2020 (ET 2020) framework, in particular the aims of enhancing equitable and quality education, reducing the rate of early leavers from education and training, and bringing the share of 15-year-olds who are under-skilled in reading, mathematics and science below 15 %; whereas such targets cannot be achieved by zeroing in on education alone but must instead be tackled by a more comprehensive approach, inter alia, by ensuring adequate social safety nets and other mechanisms are in place to help avoid situations whereby social disadvantage and economic pressures translate into implicit obstacles to educational attainment;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas high quality data collection and statistics on education and training are among the pre-requisites to better understand the relevant challenges across the Union and divergences within it as well as to help address them;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
H b. whereas, whilst stressing the importance of in-person learning, digital education and a sufficient level of digital skills should be seen as part of a future oriented education, not as a subset or an alternative to existing ways of learning and teaching; whereas over two-thirds of Europeans (42%) lack even basic digital skills, with significant disparities within and between Member States; whereas the Skills Agenda aims to ensure that 70 % of 16- to 74-year-olds have basic digital skills by 2025, an average increase of two percentage points per year as against an annual increase of 0,75 percentage points between 2015 and 2019;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Emphasises the importance of quality and accessible education and that the European Education Area (EEA) initiative should provide more and, better and more accessible opportunities for every single European citizen to study, train and work abroad, and cultivate an environment where skills and diplomas are recognised throughout Europe, pursue research and work wherever one is;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the role of the EEA in fostering a sense of European belonging and in providing economic opportunities by addressing existing and forthcoming educational challenges, including insufficient levels of digital education and training across the EU;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers education a driver for European economic and social prosperity, and for ensuring that the EU is a globally competitive player and leading thecharacterised by increased levels of entrepreneurship and leading innovations, thus also helping to drive the Union's twin green and digital transitions;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Stresses the importance of encouraging and supporting educational mobility; notes the importance of cultivating an environment where skills and qualifications are recognised throughout Europe;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Reiterates the significance of massive open online courses (MOOCs) as a necessary element to promote upskilling and reskilling of the workforce in an interactive and accessible manner; believes that the EEA should promote uptake and development of MOOCs and reflect such objectives in the European approach to micro-credentials;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Notes that there is currently no single, agreed definition covering the "microcredentials" term; as such considers that uniform EU-wide standards need to be defined in order to effectively promote their mutual recognition among Member States as well as to ensure that employers trust their value;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Takes note of the variety of visions of, and approaches to, an EEA, which express a common wish to provide a new impetus for the ‘European project’; believes that the EU's role should primarily be focused on bridging the existing gaps and promoting solutions with transnational dimensions, while the educational content and methods of teaching remain a national competence;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Appreciates the Commission’s efforts to foster an EEA, while noting the need for a more holistic approach, requiring meaningful cooperation and coordination between all actors and stakeholders; and openness to novel ideas; is of the view that for the EEA to be successful in the long term, its continuous evolvement, embracing additional and new concepts and priorities, is of the utmost importance;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Cautions that the Commission’s proposals are still mainly a strategic outline rather than a concrete policy roadmap, and thus suggests setting clear priorities and realisticmid and long- term priorities and achievable targets and deadlines for the actions that should be adopted, including clearly defined interim deliverables; considers that any larger- scale initiatives need to take into account the fiscal and other capacities of the Member States and, where appropriate, be accompanied with adequate financing from the MFF;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the Council’s response to the Commission’s proposals, in particular its focus on the importance of vocational education and training (VET) and lifelong learning opportunities; stresses that due to digitalisation and other trends, VET systems need to become even more learner-centred and adaptive to align with the changing world of work and future challenges;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Considers that the EEA must not only promote, but actively support lifelong learning through targeted initiatives in order to make it truly accessible to everyone, most notably by targeting people in the EU's rearmost regions, those with low skillset at risk of technological unemployment and persons with disabilities, among others;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Emphasises the urgent need to develop a common implementation strategy and roadmap that includes the European institutions, Member States and all relevant stakeholders, and defines their respective responsibilities; believes that establishment of an EEA platform can promote progress in this regard;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses the potential of using European policy coordination tools as part of the means to achieve the common objectives of an EEA; is of the view, however, that the European Semester is a tool for coordination of economic policies across the European Union and aims to ensure that governments observe fiscal responsibility;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Reminds that the EU fiscal rules will apply again to governments from 2023 and, as a consequence, any spending needs to be proportional to Member States' long term ability to have balanced budgets and service debt interest payments;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls for all EU institutions and Member States to agree on the same vision, priorities, targets and benchmarks regarding anthe EEA, while acknowledging existing diversities in Europethe different starting points and capacities of the Member States as well as the prevailing gaps between and within the Member States;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Highlights inclusiveness as a central dimension of an EEA and a prerequisite for achieving quality education for all, ensuring that no talent is left behindone is left behind, regardless of age, socioeconomic or professional status or geographical location; stresses in this regard the need to ensure that, where applicable, a tailored approach is taken towards vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Supports with vigilance the use of quantitative indicators and benchmarks to allow the continuous comparison and monitoring of Member States’ progress towards common objectives and to incentivise further policy actions, while at the same time reiteratingcautioning against overambitious medium-term targets; is concerned that the EU-wide average targets and the means to achieve them risk concealing the great divergences between and within the Member States, potentially implicitly increasing the gaps further; warns that individual progress achieved at the Member States' level in any given timeframe is more important than the average EU-level improvement of quantitative relevant numbers; reiterates the need for supplementary qualitative indicators and benchmarks;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Points out that without reliable and frequent statistical data, the observing of the overall trends across Member States and, by extension, of achieving EEA related targets, is not possible; highlights the need to improve the quality as well as to increase the frequency of such data gathering; notes, within this context, the importance of national statistical offices and the Eurostat;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for synergies and cooperation between the EEA, the European Research Area and the European Higher Education Area to be exploited andas well as between the various Union programmes, especially the Erasmus+, Horizon Europe, Digital Europe and Creative Europe; asks in particular for a further strengthening of the Erasmus+ programme for the benefit of all teachers and learners;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Aims to foster media and information literacy, digital literacy and critical thinking at all stages of learningand formats of learning -- formal, non-formal and informal -- as a central means to empower responsible European citizens with the required skillset for the 21st Century;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls for a common framework devising that defines the minimum quantitative thresholds on the development of digital competences and on learning about the EU throughout all appropriate levels and areas of education;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls for a common framework on the development of digital competences and on learning about the EUfor both learners and educations throughout all appropriate levels and areas of education;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses the importance of enhancing competences and motivation in the education profession, especially supported throughthrough supporting the improved recognition of educators’ value to society and by bolstering pedagogical autonomy; believes that teachers and educators more generally need to be adequately compensated for their work and their working conditions improved in order to prevent burnout and minimise the high turnover of these professionals; is of the view that, in addition to higher pay, automation in education, most notably through deploying artificial intelligence aided tools to take over or help with carrying out mundane tasks like test grading and registering attendance, is also part of the solution;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Underlines the need for Member States to take action to support the development of linguistic competences at all levels, including in primary and secondary education, to embrace the Council of Europe’s goal of ‘plurilingualism’ and to achieve the benchmark of all pupils having a sufficient knowledge of English at the end of lower secondary education;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Deems it fundamental for EEA to take a more prominent role in promoting understanding, study and research of cutting edge technologies such as AI;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Notes that whilst higher education in the EU remains high-class and globally competitive, in certain areas it is failing to deliver; states with great concern that none of the EU-based higher education institutions are amongst the top 10 world universities for computer science studies;1a is troubled that the EU as a whole does not have sufficient supply of specialised AI undergraduate programmes, with some countries lacking such studies at the relevant level altogether;2a is of the view that the EEA in synergy with the relevant EU funding programmes, notably Digital Europe and Horizon Europe, must facilitate the development of AI specific undergraduate study programmes across all Member States as a matter of urgency and, more broadly, map out and give forward guidance on the future trends so as to ensure that higher education is synchronised with the needs of the labour market; _________________ 1a The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021 2aLopez-Combo, M. et al (2020) Academic Offer of Advanced Digital Skills in 2019-20. International Comparison: Focus on Artificial Intelligence, Higher Performance Computing, Cybersecurity and Data Science, European Commission.
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Considers that effective portability of educational attainment credentials is a necessary prerequisite to further promote intra-EU mobility and strengthen the single market as well as a cornerstone for the EEA; calls on the Commission and Member States to facilitate the expansion of automatic mutual recognition of learning outcomes and study periods abroad, including in VET; believes that such mutual recognition framework has to gradually be expanded beyond the EU, especially with geographically close countries;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to establish a concrete European Education Area Strategic Framework 2030 (EEASF 2030) by the end of 2022 with a comprehensive steering, monitoring and evaluation mechanism, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ and particularly SDG Target 4.7 to 'ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development';
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Seeks clarity on the level of involvement expected from stakeholders, education sectors that have been underrepresented so far, and relevant civil society actors and relevant civil society actors, many of which have been underrepresented so far;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls on the Commission to establish an EEA Platform as an interactive public gateway to support Member States and stakeholders in exchanging information and promoting cooperation and exchange of good practices; believes that such a platform should be adequately funded and all its contents should be available in all official EU languages;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Underlines the need forto also ensure a European dimension in education by strengthening a distinct European perspective in students’ curricula and teachers’ training, including with support from Jean Monnet actions and teacher academies; proposes that these teacher academies be called ‘Comenius Teacher Academies’;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Emphasises the need to provide learners with comprehensive knowledge about the diverse European history and cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, and to foster a critical European memory and historical consciousness; believes that targeted funding and initiatives to increase research on European history as well as promotion of public history are necessary;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Stresses the need to further familiarise learners with European politics, including the European integration process, the institutions and policies of the EU, the rights emerging from EU citizenship and how to actively participate in the EU’s democratic processes;