PURPOSE: to outline the new EU strategy for higher
education.
BACKGROUND: the success of the European project
depends on the EUs capacity to build a better future for
European citizens. It is also at the heart of the initiative 'Investing
in Europe's Youth' and the New
Skills Agenda for Europe. These made clear that effective
education and training systems are a foundation of fair, open and
democratic societies and of sustained growth and
employment.
The EU's 'pillar
of social rights' and recent reflection
paper on harnessing globalisation identify education and skills
as a priority for European cooperation.
The role of the Union:
the EU has a successful record of supporting higher
education through policy cooperation and funding programmes. The
European Semester is a key driver of reform, namely through
education-related country specific recommendations.
As part of the Europe 2020 strategy and the strategic
framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET
2020), the Council agreed that 40 % of young people
should have a tertiary education qualification or equivalent by
2020.
Supporting this target, since 2011, the Modernisation
Agenda for Higher Education has provided strategic direction
for EU and Member State activities to:
- build evidence about what works in higher
education (in education, research,
innovation and the design of systems) through studies, expert
groups and analysis and monitoring of benchmarks and
indicators;
- support cooperation,
mutual learning and targeted policy advice between governments and
authorities responsible for higher education;
- strengthen the capacity and outputs of higher
education institutions by funding
innovative cooperation projects between institutions and their
partners (Erasmus+, Horizon 2020) and, through European Structural
and Investment Funds (ESIF), investment in infrastructure,
facilities, skills and innovation projects;
- support international mobility of students, staff and researchers as a way for them
to develop their experience and skills (Erasmus+ and Marie
Skłodowska-Curie Actions);
- strengthen collaboration between higher education, research and
business.
Adapting to the changing world: the Commission notes that European higher education
systems still face a number of challenges, including:
- a mismatch between the skills Europe needs and those
available to it: in the period up to
2025, half of all jobs are projected to require high-level
qualifications. Many parts of the EU are experiencing shortages in
certain high-skill professions, both in terms of qualifications and
the quality of the associated skills. At the same time, too many
students graduate with poor basic skills and without the range of
transversal skills they need for resilience in a changing
world;
- persistent and growing social
divisions: people from disadvantaged
socio-economic and with a migrant background remain far less likely
to enter and complete higher education; academics and graduates are
too often perceived as detached from the rest of society; gender
segregation by field of study, etc.;
- an innovation gap, the
performance of higher education in innovation varies strongly
between EU regions;
- the different components of higher education systems
do not always work together seamlessly: cooperation with schools, vocational providers and
adult learning is often limited.
Without higher education institutions (HEIs) and
systems that are effective in education, research and innovation
and are connected to their societies, Europe cannot respond to
these challenges. Reform of higher education is the responsibility
of Member States and part of their efforts to develop world-class
education and training. The EU can help Member States with their
educational reform efforts.
CONTENT: this Communication sets out the Commission's
view of how higher education, while building on existing
achievements, should refocus efforts on current and evolving
perspectives and challenges.
The new strategy identifies four main priority
areas for action and proposes specific measures at EU level to
complement the work done by higher education institutions and
Member State authorities:
1. Tackling future skills mismatches and
promoting excellence in skills development;
2. Building inclusive and connected higher education
systems;
3. Ensuring higher education institutions contribute
to innovation;
4. Supporting effective and efficient higher education
systems.
Within each of the four main priority
areas, the Commission defines the
specific measures it will take to help achieve the general
objectives, for example:
- start a European initiative to track graduates
to improve knowledge at national and EU level on how they progress
in their careers or further education;
- launch an up-scaled EU STE(A)M coalition
bringing together different education sectors, business and public
sector employers to promote the uptake of relevant STE(A)M subjects
and modernise STE(A)M and other curricula, including through more
multidisciplinary programmes and cooperation between relevant
faculties and HEIs;
- encourage the integration of work placements into
higher education programmes, and support Erasmus+ student work
placements with a particular focus on digital skills;
- develop and roll out a digital readiness model
to help HEIs, their staff and students implement digital learning
strategies;
- step up strategic support for higher education
teachers, doctoral candidates and postdoctoral graduates through
Erasmus+ to help them develop
pedagogical and curriculum design skills through targeted
opportunities for staff mobility for pedagogical
training;
- help HEIs in developing and implementing integrated
institutional strategies for inclusion, gender equality and
study success from admission to graduation, including through
cooperation with schools and VET providers;
- promote development and testing of flexible and
modular course design;
- support recognition of qualifications held by
refugees to facilitate their access to higher
education;
- support further development and testing of teaching
methods for creativity and innovation in higher
education;
- step up EU support for university-business
cooperation, making the biannual University Business Forum a
focal point for exchange on HEIs and regional development at
European level and promoting the establishment of regional and
national university-business fora across the EU.
- support cooperation and mutual learning among
governments, for example through the
proposal to review funding and incentive structures for higher
education systems and peer counselling on funding;
- optimise synergies between EU evidence tools by
creating a Knowledge Hub on higher education.
As the Commission prepares for the next multiannual
EU budget, it will explore with Member States the future of
shared EU targets in the fields of education, research and
innovation and seek to strengthen cooperation in these fields as a
basis for achieving the objectives set out in this
Communication.