2020/2135(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Motion for a resolution
Recital A (new)

A. whereas equality between women and men is a core value of the EU enshrined in Articles 8 and 19 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital J (new)

J. whereas among 8 million ICT specialists in the EU, women make up 17 %;

Amendment 11 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K (new)

K. whereas cultural discouragement, lack of awareness of female role models and of their promotion hinders and negatively affects girls' and women’s opportunities in STEM studies, related careers and digital entrepreneurship, and lead to discrimination and fewer opportunities for women in the labour market;

Amendment 12 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET, Karen MELCHIOR, María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Radka MAXOVÁ, Hilde VAUTMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital L (new)

L. whereas emphasis should be placed on the factors that motivate and support girls' interest in STEM studies, related careers and digital entrepreneurship such as promoting female role models, teacher mentors, peer group approval, developing creativity and practical experience;

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital M (new)

M. whereas attitudes towards STEM do not differ from boys and girls through primary education, however, gender stereotypes negatively impact girls’ self- confidence to pursue continued studies in STEM and ICT related subjects, hampering their ability to work in developing future oriented sectors and related high quality, better paid jobs;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital N (new)

N. whereas women show lower confidence in their own digital skills, while digital skills are needed in life and at work, especially now more than ever, in the months of lockdown due to the outbreak of COVID-19, when everyone must rely on an internet connection to work, study or buy food;

Amendment 15 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET, Karen MELCHIOR, María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Radka MAXOVÁ, Hilde VAUTMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital O (new)

O. whereas the spread of COVID 19, disruption of education by closure of schools and other education facilities, as well as forced social isolation, restrictions and limited access, on the one hand, caused concerns about the impact of interruptions to education on vulnerable students and students with socio economically disadvantaged backgrounds, such as girls in rural areas, on the other hand, however, proved the undoubtable need of efficient, well-functioning and inclusive digital education;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital P (new)

P. whereas the COVID-19 crisis has shown the need to increase investments in digital skills and online education;

Amendment 17 #

Q. whereas the current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to speed up the process of awareness and implementation of new technologies gradually and progressively, giving priority to those arising from the current health crisis;

Amendment 18 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET, Karen MELCHIOR, María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Radka MAXOVÁ, Hilde VAUTMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital R (new)

R. whereas the main factors differentiating access to education are: the economic and social situation and place of residence (it concerns the disadvantaged due to access to goods and technical infrastructure);

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital S (new)

S. whereas girls’ access to related infrastructure and services such as ICT equipment and broadband are essential to their pursuit of digital literacy and skills; whereas girls in rural and depopulated areas face more barriers to enroll in digital education and access good ICT infrastructure and services;

Amendment 2 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B (new)

B. whereas according to Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in all its activities, the Union shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women, establishing the principle of gender mainstreaming;

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital T (new)

T. whereas there is a need for internet access in remote and more depopulated areas, which is a challenge that must be addressed urgently so that inequality of access and opportunity for both men and women does not continue to increase;

Amendment 21 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET

Motion for a resolution
Recital U (new)

U. whereas the importance of promoting the material means to make effective access to broadband internet devices and connectivity for all actors involved in the educational process as well as for households themselves in a process of progressive and comprehensive coordination;

Amendment 22 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital V (new)

V. whereas the digital transformation and innovation must be done following a human-centered approach and taking into consideration all possible outcomes of technology; whereas the insufficient use of human capital associated to gender inequalities reduces potential advantage for research and innovation-related business and for overall economic development, as well as having harmful social consequences;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital W (new)

W. whereas training programmes are needed to encourage the responsible use of technological tools, combining manual activities, play, creativity and ingenuity and social skills that allow human contact and the development of personal relations without the need to mediate electronic and digital devices;

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital X (new)

X. whereas the risk involved in the irresponsible use of this process of digitalisation and digital forms of education, there is a need for strong support for the family to obtain recognition and the necessary resources to be the catalyst that responsibly graduates the implementation of these measures;

Amendment 25 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital Y (new)

Y. whereas an excess of information, information not adapted to the age of the student or inappropriate or fallacious information can generate multiple media illiteracy. This is becoming evident in the damage caused by the hypersexualisation of sexual affective educational content due to the gender disorder that is currently being attempted;

Amendment 26 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital Z (new)

Z. whereas there is scientific evidence of the different maturation periods between boys and girls in the school cycle itself;

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a (new) Calls on the Commission and Member States when developing digital education policy to ensure that students are equally skilled to take up tasks and roles of future jobs in the changing labour market and have equal opportunities that enable them to tackle tomorrow's challenges of future global competitiveness;

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a (new). Calls on the Commission and Member States to develop an high quality, inclusive and non-discriminatory digital education which will ensure that digital transformation of Europe’s economy and society benefits all and contributes to gender equality; encourages Member States to add computer science education into national curriculum;

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a (new). Calls on the Commission and Member States to create new channels to connect with girls and ensure that the digital education reaches all of them; calls for efficient funding and strategies that include positive action, lifelong learning and active encouragement for girls to undertake studies in ICT and STEM areas;

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C (new)

C. whereas women are significantly underrepresented in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector (17%), among science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates (36%), with the share of men working in a digital sector 3.1 times greater than the one of women, despite the fact that girls outperform boys in digital literacy1;

Amendment 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a (new). Stresses that digital education must play a substantial role in increasing the participation of girls and women in the fields related to ICT and STEM and eliminating digital gender gap; digital education must create better digital inclusion and digital literacy, as well as equal participation of girls and women in the digital age;

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a (new). Calls on the Commission and Member States to find more attractive and creative ways to showcase female role models with successful career in ICT and STEM in order to encourage girls to pursue ICT and STEM studies, as well as to boost self-confidence of women in their digital skills;

Amendment 32 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a (new). Calls on the Commission and Member States to put more efforts to promote digital competences among girls, to encourage them to invest in digital skills and to choose ICT and STEM career path; calls to mobilise stakeholders, such as private companies and NGOs, to equip girls with digital skills and to provide inspirational models; calls to collect and share information on best practice examples and success models;

Amendment 33 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a (new). Commends various private educational initiatives to support girls and promote women in the digital economy with viral stories on social media, professional networks organised by women for women and initiatives of tech companies;

Amendment 34 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a (new). Calls on the Commission and Member States to take into account the situation of women and girls with disabilities and women and girls in outermost regions or rural areas and to ensure their full access and inclusion into digital education in order to avoid the widening of digital divide;

Amendment 35 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a (new). Calls on Member States to take into account ongoing concerns about the risk of the further spread of COVID- 19 and to address the issue of the lack of equipment, to address the issues of vulnerable students and students with socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, such as girls in rural areas, and to develop tools in order to ensure a full access and smooth functioning of digital education;

Amendment 36 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a (new). Stresses that the mechanical, technical and digital school subjects have quite often an unconscious male agenda and approach; Highlights that education can be the key for breaking gender stereotypes and these stereotypes should be challenged not reinforced in the classrooms in order to create gender sensitive approaches to education and teaching.

Amendment 37 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a (new). Highlights that we need to change the curriculum in terms of digital education to make the subject appealing to girls as well as boys. Stresses that digital education must be planned and created in order for boys and girls to express their interests and skills in the digital sphere.

Amendment 38 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a (new). Stresses that persisting gender gaps within education need to be tackled by educating and training teachers and other educators not to reinforce harmful gender stereotypes in every-day school life and teaching, paying special attention to STEM subjects.

Amendment 39 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET, Karen MELCHIOR, María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Radka MAXOVÁ, Hilde VAUTMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a (new). Highlights that bridging the digital gender gap from primary education to higher education and eventually job market needs gender mainstreaming within the curriculum and active breaking down of socio-cultural gender stereotypes of what women and men are capable of and should concentrate their energies on. Points out that the gender gaps in higher education persist to the job market as only five out of the 20 largest occupations in the EU show a gender balance (40/60 ratio) between women and men according to EIGE4.

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D (new)

D. whereas there is a gender gap in digital skills of 11%; Whereas women are still under-represented at all levels in the digital sector in Europe and the share of women in this sector is decreasing and the percentage of women in ICT careers still remains below 2% of women's total share in the European labour market; whereas four times more men than women in Europe have ICT-related studies;

Amendment 40 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)

14 a (new) Recalls that the digital gender gap is an economic, societal and cultural issue, to be addressed with multi- level and holistic policies, as it leads to growing gender inequality; reminds that digital gender gap slows down the growth of the European economy of the future, characterised by digitalisation; calls on the Commission to incorporate an institutional horizontal strategy in its Digital Education Action plan to combat gender inequality;

Amendment 41 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

~~4https://eige.europa.eu/news/education-key-breaking-~~15 a (new) Points out that all-inclusive digital society is a pre-requisite for a successful digital transformation and full implementation of the EU digital agend~~er-~~a; stere~~otypes , https://eige.europa.eu/publications/study-and-work-eu-set-apart-gender-report~~ sses that strong stimulus towards uptake of young girls and women into digital education and ICT labour market greatly contributes to the formation of an all-inclusive society;

Amendment 42 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16 a (new) Recalls that increasing the number of women in the ICT sector, is a method that will contribute to boosting of the European global competitiveness; stresses the need to implement tools that encourage girls and women to engage with the various forms of digital education; recalls that women from an early age face discrimination and prejudice in regards to their digital skills and potential to participate in digital education and ICT labour market;

Amendment 43 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17a (new)

17 a (new) Insists that the next Digital Education Action plan is fully gender mainstreamed; stresses the need to build on the best practices of the Digital Education action plan and to utilize it to encourage women’s participation in digital entrepreneurship, STEM and ICT education and employment to narrow the existing digital gender gap;

Amendment 44 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)

18 a (new) Recognizes the role of teachers and caretakers at every stage of education in the process of forming expectations and biases towards digital skills and ICT career; stresses the need for awareness raising, in order to confront discrimination and prejudice against women participation in decision making and acquisition of digital skills; stresses the need for a bottom up approach and an inclusive dialogue with the relevant stakeholders;

Amendment 45 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)

19 a (new). Underlines that women and young girls also face hostility and prejudice throughout their participation in the ICT sector or digital education; stresses the need to promote policies that contribute to the creation of an inclusive environment in order to maintain the highest possible number of women within the system, once engaged;

Amendment 46 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)

20 a (new). Emphasizes the need for Member States to take note of best practices in addressing digital gender gap and incorporate such practices and recommendations into the national education and labour market policies by including targeted measures in national action plans;

Amendment 47 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

. 21 a (new). Stresses that sufficient resources are to be dedicated towards investing into promotion of women in digital education both at EU level and in the MS; underlines that most efficient use of resources is to create a dedicated funding instrument to address digital gender gap. Access to such instrument could be conditional upon implementation of projects within national policies for digital learning; emphasizes, also the need to invest into re-skilling and up- skilling programmes for women in digital literacy and relevant digital skills; recalls that the digital sector is changing at an increasingly fast pace, therefore, it is only prudent to implement policies leading to lifelong learning for women and young girls;

Amendment 48 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)

22 a (new). Stresses that women undertake majority of unpaid household chores and care work at home, which has been increased by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, women are less likely to spend sufficient time with digital tools and participate in digital education; recommends to strengthen the efforts to boost women’s participation and gender equality in the labour market and education by promoting equal sharing of care and household responsibilities between women and men and by supporting the equal take-up of parental and carers’ leave by women and men;

Amendment 49 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET, Karen MELCHIOR, María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Radka MAXOVÁ, Hilde VAUTMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)

23 a (new). Recognizes that courses and learning opportunities often coincide with household chores; calls on the Commission to incorporate flexible learning methods. Specifically designed for women caretakers and others who are unable to attend classes but are able to participate in distance learning;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E (new)

~~1 A Union of Equality: Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, COM/2020/152 final~~ E. whereas the average percentage of females in AI and cybersecurity, worldwide, are 12% and 20%, respectively despite the fact that the demand for labour in these two domains has increased drastically over the years.; Whereas the low numbers of women who work in disruptive technologies that are transforming our reality can highly impact the design, development and implementation of these technologies, causing the replication of existing discriminatory practices and stereotypes and the development of gender biased algorithms;

Amendment 50 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)

24 a (new). Emphasizes that new and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, robotics, virtual and augmented reality offer exciting new prospects to intrigue young women to participate in the development and implementation of these technologies;

Amendment 51 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)

25 a (new). Recalls that an important obstacle women face in participation in online activities and social networks is cyber violence; notes that the Digital Education Action plan should aim to provide skills and tools to girls, young women and men to react to cyber violence and bullying; stresses that the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence should be ratified and applied;

Amendment 52 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET, Karen MELCHIOR, María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Radka MAXOVÁ, Hilde VAUTMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)

26 a (new). Stresses the importance of the "Women in Digital" Task Force and the "Digital4Her" initiative; reminds the importance of developing European networks of women in the digital field promoting the participation of girls and women in digital studies and careers across the EU; reminds that it is essential to promote women role models in the ICT sectors in order to motivate and inspire young girls in pursuing digital education;

Amendment 53 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)

27 a (new). Welcomes the Gender Equality Strategy’s focus on gender equality in the digital transition; Underlines the need for gender mainstreaming across all EU policies regarding education, skills and digitalisation, in particular the updated Digital Education Action Plan, Updated Skills Agenda for Europe and the Council recommendation on vocational education and training; Welcomes the Commission’s Women in Digital (WID) Scoreboard to monitor women’s participation in the digital economy;

Amendment 54 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET, Karen MELCHIOR, María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Radka MAXOVÁ, Hilde VAUTMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)

28 a (new). Stresses the need for digital education to begin from an early age and include a strong gender perspective ensuring bias-free education curricula and materials which combat gender stereotypes; encourages a more social approach to ICT and STEM education to underline the social impact of these careers through, for example, introductory courses of social sciences in each technical subject during the digital education;

Amendment 55 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET, Karen MELCHIOR, María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Radka MAXOVÁ, Hilde VAUTMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)

29 a (new). Encourages the Commission to facilitate best practices between Member States in this regard and for Member States to ensure educators are aware of the digital education gender gap and its causes and that appropriate measures are introduced to address them;

Amendment 56 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)

30 a (new). Considers it fundamental to encourage women's participation in the digital economy to promote a human centered approach to technology that respects fundamental values and gender equality;

Amendment 57 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET, Karen MELCHIOR, María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Radka MAXOVÁ, Hilde VAUTMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 a (new)

31 a (new). Considers that, given the rising demand for ICT practitioners and the importance of digital careers in the future of European economy, it is critical to increase the share of women in the digital sector to build a more sustainable and inclusive economy and society through scientific, digital and technological innovation; Encourages public and private actors to increase the visibility of women leaders in digital and technology to establish stronger role models and break existing stereotypes;

Amendment 58 #

Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ, Samira RAFAELA, Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU, Irène TOLLERET, Karen MELCHIOR, María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Radka MAXOVÁ, Hilde VAUTMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)

32 a (new). Stresses that digital education must include digital literacy and cyber hygiene and safety modules to equip young people to navigate disinformation and cyber violence and harassment online, in particular for girls and women who are disproportionately affected; Encourages Member states to set strict codes of conduct and protocols to report to the relevant authorities all cases of harassment;

Amendment 59 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)

33 a (new). Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure equal access for women and girls to digital education; notes that closing the gap in digital education is fundamental to ensure that the digital transition does not leave anyone behind, ensures equal access to the labour market for women in the digital sector and prevents the gender pay gap;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F (new)

F. whereas the use of full potential of women’s digital skills can contribute significantly to boosting the European economy, especially that there are around 1 million vacancies in Europe for digital experts, 70% of companies delaying investments because they do not find the people with the right digital skills2 and in some job categories, more than 90% of jobs require specific types of digital skills3;

Amendment 60 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)

34 a (new) . Stresses that combating the digital gender divide will ultimately lead to employing more human capital, skills and talent and bringing new female contributions to the economy and society also by promoting more gender responsive technologies;

Amendment 61 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)

35 a (new). Requests for the collection of nuanced gender statistics to evaluate policy outcomes and the collection of data disaggregated by gender and age to get a better picture of the digital gender divide; welcomes in that regard the decision to focus EIGE’s gender equality index of 2020 on work in a digital world;

Amendment 62 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)

36 a (new) . Calls for the implementation of policies with a holistic approach which involve all stakeholders - including state institutions, policy-makers, civil society and private sector organisations- in order to strengthen gender equality and ensure the realisation of women and girls’ human rights to education, work and decent livelihood;

Amendment 63 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37 a (new)

37 a (new). Notes that Member States have a key role to play in ensuring the provision of public education in ways which enhance gender equality, provide the required digital skills for all and combat gender stereotypes for girls and boys, in particular in the area of ICT;

Amendment 64 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38 a (new)

38 a (new). Stresses that gender budgeting and mainstreaming must be part of any policy, including in digital education policies;

Amendment 65 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)

39 a (new). Calls for digital skills training initiatives that maintain an appropriate balance with the priority needs arising from the current COVID-19 pandemic;

Amendment 66 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40 a (new)

40 a (new). Calls for the implementation of health protection measures against the coronavirus, both for families and for teachers and trainers who are exposed to a high level of infection through human interaction, in the same way as public sector and medical professionals and practitioners;

Amendment 67 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)

41 a (new). Calls on the Member States to be aware of the importance that the knowledge, development and implementation of new technologies, such as broadband internet, should not reduce human beings to a mechanism of mere productive efficiency and effectiveness, but should also encourage programmes that promote and integrate their own natural being by protecting their dignity which is based on a responsible freedom based on love in service and dedication to others;

Amendment 68 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 a (new)

42 a (new). The need to implement training itineraries should be highlighted, which together with the gradual use, knowledge and implementation of new technologies, should encourage creativity and innovation, all of which should serve proposals that move away from dehumanization and that attend to ethical criteria that invite the integral development of the person in his spiritual, intellectual, volitional and emotional dimensions;

Amendment 69 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 a (new)

43 a (new). It emphasises the need for plans for implementing material resources for access to new technologies to take special account of the most disadvantaged realities, being governed by plans that are clear, transparent and quick to implement;

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G (new)

G. whereas there is still a lack of interest among girls to pursue ICT and STEM studies, which leads to lost social and economic opportunities, as well as prevents potentially to reduce gender inequality and gender pay gap; whereas girls become interested in STEM subjects around the age of 11 and lose their interest when 15;

Amendment 70 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44 a (new)

44 a (new). Calls on the Member States to raise awareness of the need to support differentiated education, which can best be adapted to the needs of each sex, and in particular to immerse girls in the digital world by providing them with appropriate training for their own sex;

Amendment 71 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45 a (new)

45 a (new).Calls on the Member States to be aware of the fundamental role of the family as a catalyst for this new change in the new technologies, since they are the main ones affected by the confinements that are taking place intermittently throughout the world;

Amendment 72 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46 a (new)

46 a (new) Urges the implementation of measures and economic and/or material incentives for the family to enable them to adapt adequately to the training itinerary of educational establishments in the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic;

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H (new)

H. whereas 73 % of boys aged 15-16 feel comfortable using digital devices that they are less familiar with, compared with 63 % of girls in the same age bracket;

Amendment 9 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I (new)

I. whereas the share of women among ICT and engineering graduates in the EU is 17%, whereas between 2004 and 2015, it declined in 20 Member States;

source: 657.443

2020/10/21 EMPL 158 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Draft opinion
Recital -A a (new)

-Aa. whereas the first principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) outlines the importance of maintaining and acquiring skills to 'ensure equal opportunities and access to the labour market' and stipulates that everyone has the right to 'quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market';

Amendment 10 #

Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas the digital divide contributes to social exclusion;

Amendment 100 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Member States to remove barriers to access to education, with particular emphasis on digital education, in order to improve digital skills and to particularly focus on vulnerable groups, such as impoverished people, vulnerable youth or minorities for whom bridging the digital skills divide can represent a means to break the vicious cycle of social and labour exclusion;

Amendment 101 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Member States to remove barriers to access to education, with particular emphasis on digital education, in order to improve digital skills; calls on the Member States to focus more on the vulnerable communities that lack the access to the digital tools and the internet and where a large proportion of pupils and students did not have access to education during the first wave of Covid- 19 pandemics;

Amendment 102 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Member States to remove barriers to access to education, with particular emphasis on digital education, in order to improve digital skills; calls on the Member States to foster adult learning that provides lifelong learning opportunities, improve their employability and ensure that all citizens fully benefit from the digital transition in the EU labour market, including vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities; Calls for accessible and affordable digital skills programs catered to the needs of the elderly;

Amendment 103 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Emphasises the role of families and parents who provide support for children in distance learning and who need to have good internet, technical and digital skills; highlights in this regard the importance of lifelong learning; stresses the need to assist all families with digital tools in order to grant access to remote education;

Amendment 104 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Considers that Member States should pursue a more advanced integration of digital technologies in education through the development of programmes and targeted investments, with the ultimate aim of ensuring the citizens' readiness and preparation for future jobs which require digital skills, and thus seize the full potential of the digital transition in the EU labour market, as well as to fully benefit from the already existing use of new working methods by companies, such as telework;

Amendment 105 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Stresses the importance of developing policies, which ensure that people with disabilities receive the same opportunities for qualitative digital education; encourages the Members States, together with organizations representing people with different disabilities, to examine the challenges and opportunities that digital education pose and to take into account the specific needs that people with disabilities have, when developing effective digital education policies;

Amendment 106 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Urges the Commission to put forward a consolidated proposal in the framework of the post-2020 European Disability Strategy to ensure full and effective accessibility of information and communication technologies and systems on an equal basis;

Amendment 107 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls on the Member States to use the digital tools to make the education system truly accessible for all including persons with disabilities;

Amendment 108 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Stresses the need to boost the role of social partners by ensuring that the digital education policy encourages collective agreements regarding the definition and regulation of digital skills and continuing training, by consulting with social partners the competency needs and the update of the curricula of education and training systems, and by co-designing with workers’ representatives on-the-job training to adapt it to the needs of the working force;

Amendment 109 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls on Member States to ensure, with the aid of the European Commission and, where eligible and available, European funding tools, that vulnerable children, youth and adults in the EU have access to adequate technological resources and equipment enabling them to acquire basic digital skills which can multiply their opportunities for social and economic inclusion;

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Recital A b (new)

Ab. whereas digitalisation has an immense potential to boost productivity and improve well-being but it can also increase inequalities if some people, and more specifically vulnerable groups, or regions are left behind; whereas the digital divide in early childhood has a negative impact on employment prospects in later life; whereas, in the context of remote schooling and teleworking, the digital divide could lead to further inequalities, exclusion and discrimination; whereas according to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 42% of Europeans still lack basic digital skills; whereas the level of digital proficiency has specific socio-economic, gender, age, geographic and accessibility aspects, which must be addressed;

Amendment 110 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Notes that VET can make a vital contribution to the delivering of the European Green Deal by helping define and implement the so called “green skills” for the economy and for all people; recalls that the EPSR, the Skills Agenda for Europe and the European Pact for Skills need to align with the green skills;

Amendment 111 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Deplores the fact that still not all European students have access to the digital infrastructure and/or digital equipment; reiterates the need to urgently improve connectivity, in particular in disadvantaged and rural areas;

Amendment 112 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Encourages Member States to promote flexible models of education and support for distance learners using such means as e-resources, e-materials and free online training;

Amendment 113 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Warns that social and educational inequalities in early childhood have a negative impact on educational attainment and employment prospects in later life; reiterates the need for improving access to quality education and more efforts in developing digital and media skills at an early age; welcomes the announcement of the European Commission to introduce a European Child Guarantee in order to tackle child poverty; underlines that Member States should allocate at least 5 % of the European Social Fund (ESF+) resources under shared management to support activities under the European Child Guarantee and insists that a separate budget line under ESF+ needs to be created for the European Child Guarantee, with an allocation of EUR 20 billion;

Amendment 114 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Underlines the importance for corporate investment in formal and informal training and in life-long learning to ensure fair training and workforce transitions and the promotion of training and learning during working hours; points out that employees should be able to participate in the redistribution of company profits amongst others through investment in skills, and that companies should grant paid leaves with the right of return and means of subsistence with allowances to replace their earnings;

Amendment 115 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Stresses that remote learning should become part of a modern ‘blended learning’ approach, namely an integrated, hybrid learning method that combines traditional learning methods, i.e. direct contact with the trainer, with remote computer-based activities;

Amendment 116 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Stresses that green skills need to be included in lifelong learning and VET, mainstreamed and incorporated into education policies and practice as one of the measures to provide a skilled labour force that is also an agent of sustainable development and growth;

Amendment 117 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Encourages the Member States to mainstream gender equality in digital education policies in order to address the existing digital gender gap;

Amendment 118 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)

3c. Highlights that the COVID-19 crisis has already left many people jobless, especially young people who find themselves anyhow more often in precarious employment; welcomes in this context the Commission’s plans to strengthen the European Youth Guarantee; considers, in this context, the idea that young people in general, and more particularly NEETs, who register for the Youth Guarantee schemes should be supported in developing and enhancing digital skills to facilitate upskilling and reskilling towards green and digital transitions; highlights that it is necessary that Member States continue to invest sufficient ESF+ resources in measures to support youth employment and that they shall therefore allocate at least 15 % of their ESF+ resources under shared management to targeted actions and structural reforms to support quality youth employment;

Amendment 119 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)

3c. Calls on the Member States to ensure access to training to unemployed workers by granting subsidies such as unemployment benefits, so that also the unemployed and workers with atypical forms of employment have the opportunity to access digital education; such benefits should include the training expenses and a training allowance to replace their lost earnings during the period of training;

Amendment 12 #

Draft opinion
Recital A b (new)

Ab. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated deep inequalities in access to education and digital connectivity in some countries and regions in the EU;

Amendment 120 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)

3d. Stresses that the digital gender gap is an economic, societal and cultural issue which should be addressed by a holistic approach; highlights the need to encourage the participation of young girls and women in STEM subjects, in digital education and the ICT labour market; calls therefore on the Commission to ensure that the next DEAP is fully gender mainstreamed;

Amendment 121 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 e (new)

3e. Is concerned about the fact that only 35 % of persons aged 55-74 possess basic digital skills; recalls that older learners face difficulties in accessing adult education opportunities as these are often not tailored to their learning needs and/or are not fully accessible; underlines the need to improve access to digital skills for seniors and people from disadvantaged groups;

Amendment 122 #

Lina GÁLVEZ MUÑOZ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 f (new)

3f. Is concerned by the levels of digital illiteracy revealed by the COVID- 19 crisis, with many people struggling with basic digital tasks and being vulnerable to disinformation campaigns, including misleading or false information; stresses the need to further improve data protection and cybersecurity and to resolutely tackle digital fraud, cyberbullying and cyber-threats;

Amendment 123 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses the need to teach basic digital skills and strengthen critical thinking and media use skills in children and young people~~, as this will enable them to assess and overcome the dangers posed by fake news, cyber- bullying, radicalisation, cyber-security issues and fraud.~~ following a lifelong- learning approach and providing sufficient resources to the education systems in this regard; emphasizes in this context the need to enable teaching staff to master the challenge of preparing students and apprentices for life and work in the digital age;

Amendment 124 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses the need to strengthen ~~critical thinking and media use skills in child~~the capacity of children, young people and adults for democratic, ideology-frene and ~~young people~~critical thought when using the media, as this will enable them to assess and overcome the dangers posed by fake news, cyber- bullying, radicalisation, cyber- security issues and fraud.

Amendment 125 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses the need to strengthen critical thinking and media use skills ~~in children and young people,~~among all age groups as this will enable ~~them~~ to assess and overcome the dangers posed by fake news, cyber- bullying, radicalisation, cyber-security issues and fraud.

Amendment 126 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

Amendment 127 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses the need ~~to strengthen critical thinking and~~for media use ~~skills in~~among children and young people, as this will enable them to assess and overcome the dangers posed by fake news, cyber- bullying, radicalisation, cyber-security issues and fraud.

Amendment 128 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses the need to strengthen critical thinking and media use skills in children and young people, as this will enable them to assess and overcome the dangers posed by fake news, cyber- bullying, radicalisation, cyber-security issues and fraud. ; stresses that particular attention should be paid to teaching methods and not solely to the use of technology tools; points out that teacher support is essential to involving pupils in the learning process and in the development of their critical thinking skills;

Amendment 129 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses the need to strengthen critical thinking and media use skills in children and young people, as this will enable them to assess and overcome the dangers posed by fake news, cyber- bullying, radicalisation, cyber-security issues and fraud.; points out that soft skills are essential in the promotion of STEM skills, especially with a view to the deployment of automation and AI systems, human empathy, creativity and problem solving skills;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Recital A b (new)

Ab. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how certain disadvantaged social groups, such as the Roma, have been disproportionately hit by the crisis due to the fact that digital education has often not been accessible and/or affordable for their children as a result of the lack of any or adequate IT equipment, internet connection and electricity, which has further depended inequalities in education;

Amendment 130 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Welcomes the idea of establishing a European Digital Education Hub by the European Commission, which could support MS by setting up a network of national advisory services on digital education, connect the different stakeholders, link national and regional digital-education strategies, monitor the implementation of the Digital Education Action Plan and the development of digital education in Europe;

Amendment 131 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Takes the view that, with a view to promoting fruitful future careers, training programmes are needed that encourage the responsible use of technological tools, combining manual activities, play, creativity and ingenuity and social skills that make human contact possible and lead to the development of personal relations without the need to resort to electronic and digital devices;

Amendment 132 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Stresses the need to support the physical health of pupils and students that might be endangered as a consequence of long hours spent in front of the computer screens resulting from the predominantly digital education during the Covid-19 crisis; calls on the Member States to launch targeted campaigns raising awareness about the necessity of physical exercise;

Amendment 133 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Considers it absolutely crucial that a specific training approach be launched for small and medium-sized enterprises so that they can digitally upskill and retrain their workforce; considers it essential that Member States and local authorities contribute towards the financing of such training initiatives aimed at SMEs;

Amendment 134 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Recalls that the crisis has highlighted the need for a multi- stakeholder approach to education policy, including teachers and trainers, students, parents, social partners, NGOs, local authorities and community organisations in both design and delivery;

Amendment 135 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Points out that digital training should continue over the course of a lifetime and not be delivered solely at school, university or in the workplace, and therefore stresses the importance of considering the needs of the labour market;

Amendment 136 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Calls on the Member States to enhance their exchange of best practices in relation to creation of viable digital education policies and on how to best tackle potential challenges arising from the implementation of digital education reforms;

Amendment 137 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Highlights the importance of connecting digital education with other policy areas to show how digital education can contribute to enhance equality and counter discrimination as well as, more inclusive, innovative and greener economies;

Amendment 138 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Calls on the Member States to implement national programmes to monitor students’ attainments in the area of digital competences, including IT skills, at primary and secondary school level;

Amendment 139 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Stresses the need to monitor the impact of digitalisation, aim to anticipate new types of jobs and necessary skills, and use this data to design up-to-date digital education modules and curricula;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Recital A c (new)

Ac. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the existing gaps that are faced by people with disabilities and special needs when accessing internet; whereas according to the European Disability Forum one in three persons with disabilities has never used the internet; whereas the Article 9 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires accessibility of information as well as communication technologies and systems on an equal basis;

Amendment 140 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Emphasises to learn from the Covid-19 crisis by applying the good practices of some countries in terms of using digital tools for education;

Amendment 141 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Encourages the Member States to support and promote collaboration between educational and training institutions, including cross-border cooperation, in the process of incorporating and up-dating the use of digital technologies in the educational and training facilities and promoting the development of more advanced digital skills;

Amendment 142 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Stresses the need to devise specific digital learning programmes for the most vulnerable in society, such as persons with disabilities or autism; considers it essential that these people receive a tailor- made digital education to ensure that they are not unfairly further excluded from the world of work;

Amendment 143 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to closely work with civil society organisations, for instance in the frame of the structured dialogue and for the design and implementation of national digital education policies to ensure that the policies meet the needs of the citizens and put the learners at the centre;

Amendment 144 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Encourages Member States to set up national programmes for secondary schools that would promote an increase in the number of IT graduates; stresses that such classes could be developed under the umbrella of high-tech companies and universities;

Amendment 145 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Stresses the central role of family in this digitalisation process, as the family environment is the natural setting for learning how to use digital tools responsibly, and will, therefore, enable future professionals to make the best possible use of them in their careers;

Amendment 146 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4c. Underlines the importance of involving companies, educational and training institutions, the research and innovation sectors in the process of bridging the digital skills gap in Europe and developing effective digital education policies;

Amendment 147 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4c. Points out the need to build, at every stage of education, the competences needed to create, implement and use technologies based on artificial intelligence;

Amendment 148 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4c. Calls on the Commission to set clear guidelines for digital national strategies as well as monitoring mechanisms to evaluate its impact in Member States;

Amendment 149 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)

4d. Welcomes the Commission’s efforts to digitise education and qualifications, including the new Europass platform and the planned Europass Digital Credential Infrastructure; draws attention, at the same time, to the need to improve the functionality of the Europass platform as regards searching for and receiving job and course offers, the need to carry out relevant updates of the information on the platform concerning current courses, training, job offers, and the need to designate the institutions responsible for this process;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Recital A c (new)

Ac. whereas it is the responsibility of public institutions to create conditions conducive to the development of digital competences for all individuals and social groups and to ensure equal access to digital content and services, including ensuring the digital accessibility of public entities’ mobile websites and applications;

Amendment 150 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)

4d. Calls on Member States to do a mapping of existing digital education programmes and monitor who are their main beneficiaries, while paying particular attention to their accessibility for vulnerable groups;

Amendment 151 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)

4e. Calls on the Member States to promote initiatives through which businesses and start-ups can present and share high-tech innovation to students, including tools and instruments that facilitate digital learning;

Amendment 152 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)

4e. Calls on the Member States to intensify their promotional activities concerning the new Europass platform among schools, teachers, universities, students, education and training institutions and employers;

Amendment 153 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 f (new)

4f. Calls on the Member States to cooperate more intensively in the area of digital certification and to promote this approach among key stakeholders, i.e. representatives of qualification providers and employers;

Amendment 154 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 g (new)

4g. Encourages the Member States to create opportunities for local institutions, such as libraries, community centres and social service centres, to perform an additional function as centres of digital competence development, offering a catalogue of additional services related to digital competence development;

Amendment 155 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 h (new)

4h. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to increase funding for interdisciplinary research on the various aspects of learning in the digital environment as a specific priority, with particular emphasis on: psychological (behavioural), methodological, tool- related, labour-market and new- profession aspects;

Amendment 156 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 i (new)

4i. Encourages the Member States to set up national systems for the digital education of adults, which would prepare people who have completed their formal education to live and work in the digital environment and retrain people working in Industry 4.0; stresses that the focus of such programmes should be on upskilling and reskilling in employees’ workplaces, rather than on external courses organised by entities that do not have knowledge of the specifics of the company;

Amendment 157 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 j (new)

4j. Requires the Member States to draft a detailed analysis of the implementation of digital education tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic;

Amendment 158 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 k (new)

4k. Calls on the Commission to improve and harmonise tools for monitoring actions in the field of digital education strategy, which will contribute to increasing the cohesion of projects in this area and provide for a real assessment of the effectiveness of projects that are being implemented and their impact on the development of digital competences;

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Recital A c (new)

Ac. whereas a significant gender gap in digital skills still persists and is expected to widen; whereas only 17% of tech sector jobs are hold by women despite a share of 54% female students in tertiary education; whereas according to Eurostat only one in three STEM graduates is a woman; whereas efforts to tackle gender bias and inequality in the digital sector are insufficient; whereas the gender gap is particularly evident in the AI sector, where only 22% of AI professionals globally are female, thereby solidifying a male-biased trajectory for the digital sector in the foreseeable future;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Recital A c (new)

Ac. whereas 10% of households in rural areas of the EU do not have access to fixed-line internet and a further 41% are not covered by broadband1a; __________________ 1aEuropean Commission (2020). Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) – EU-28 values (including UK)

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Recital A d (new)

Ad. whereas older people are more vulnerable to digital exclusion; whereas only 35 % of persons aged 55-74 possess basic digital skills, compared to 82% of persons aged 16-24;

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital skills and the need to improve them, including through education ~~and the provision of~~, training, investments in digital infrastructure and equipment enabling students and teachers to participate in remote learning at home and in educational facilities;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Recital A

A. whereas countries that have ~~greater availability~~high levels of urbanisation, a high percentage of the population with higher education, high levels of broadband and mobile internet access in homes also have a greater number of citizens with basic or advanced digital skills; 1a; __________________ 1aManaging tomorrow's digital skills: what conclusions can we draw from international comparative indicators? p.17 https://unesdoc.unesco.org/in/documentVi ewer.xhtml?v=2.1.196&id=p::usmarcdef_ 0000261853&file=/in/rest/annotationSVC /DownloadWatermarkedAttachment/attac h_import_6b0c9497-27a0-4127-b54e- 9dffa08d257f%3F_%3D261853eng.pdf&u pdateUrl=updateUrl4464&ark=/ark:/4822 3/pf0000261853/PDF/261853eng.pdf.mult i&fullScreen=true&locale=en#1364_18% 20tomorrows%20digital%20skills%20E_I NT.indd%3A.23114%3A1287

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital skills and the need to improve them, including through education and the provision of equipment enabling students to participate in remote learning at home and in educational facilities; whereas the quality and availability of teaching during the pandemic varies according to the availability of infrastructure and facilities, the presence of educators with digital competences, including the ability to adapt pedagogical methods, and the existence of usable and accessible digital content, tools, services and platforms;

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital skills and the need to improve them, including through education and the provision of equipment, enabling students and workers to participate in remote learning at home and in educational and training facilities;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance and shortage of digital skills and the need to improve them, including through education and the provision of equipment enabling students to participate in remote learning at home and in educational facilities;

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital skills ~~and the need to improve~~for all citizens regardless of their employment sector or personal background, and the need to strengthen them, including through education and the provision of equipment enabling students to participate in remote learning at home and in educational facilities;

Amendment 24 #

Draft opinion
Recital B

Amendment 25 #

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital skills and the need to improve them, including through education and the provision of equipment enabling students to participate in remote learning at home, with a special focus on families with several children, single-parent families and low-income families, and in educational facilities;

Amendment 26 #

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas the provision of digital infrastructure and digital equipment is a precondition for digital education; whereas particular attention should be paid to disadvantaged and rural areas in this context; whereas despite the large majority of households having access to a computer, disparities between Member States and regions are still significant; whereas access to computers in schools also varies greatly between and within Member States; whereas the lack of digital equipment and connectivity in schools has a detrimental effect on the digital skills education of students and the availability of digital teaching tools;

Amendment 27 #

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas reskilling and upskilling is also necessary to adjust to the long-term teleworking conditions which are set to be increasing under the COVID crisis; whereas employers should provide digital trainings as well as digital equipment to all employees, paying attention to the specific needs, among them to the provision of reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities;

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas the Covid-19 crisis has shown that there is a big percentage of pupils and students that did not have the access to internet and digital tools and thus had very limited access to education;

Amendment 29 #

Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)

Bb. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for teachers and trainers at all levels, including in Vocational Education and Training (VET); whereas prior to the crisis only 39% of teachers in the EU felt well or very well prepared to use digital technologies for teaching, with significant differences between Member States;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Recital A

A. whereas according to the OECD’s PISA exercise in 2018 many low-income homes had no access to computers; whereas according to Eurostat there were significant differences in the access to broadband internet in the EU in 2019, ranging from 74% of households for the lowest-income quartile to 97% in the highest-income quartile; whereas countries that have greater availability of broadband internet in homes also have a greater number of citizens with basic or advanced digital skills;

Amendment 30 #

Draft opinion
Recital B c (new)

Bc. whereas, during the coronavirus pandemic, the number of hours spent by pupils in some Member States on educational activities has been reduced by as much as half1a; whereas even the temporary closure of educational establishments can have significant consequences for pupils, and a reduction in teaching time can have an adverse effect on learning outcomes and can increase existing social inequalities1b; __________________ 1aA recent study from DE shows that more than half of the students (57%) had online lessons less than once a week, only 6% daily. 38% of the students declare they dedicated a maximum of two hours and 74% a maximum of four hours a day to school activities. For further information: IFO Institut (2020): Bildung in der Coronakrise: Wie haben die Schulkinder die Zeit der Schulschließungen verbracht, und welche Bildungsmaßnahmen befürworten die Deutschen? 1b Joint Research Centre (2020). The likely impact of COVID-19 on education: Reflections based on the existing literature and recent international datasets. Luxembourg: Publication of the European Union.

Amendment 31 #

Draft opinion
Recital B c (new)

Bc. whereas the aim of digital education is to prepare students to use digital technologies skilfully in different areas of life;

Amendment 32 #

Draft opinion
Recital B c (new)

Bc. whereas digital education stays with people throughout their lives, both inside and outside the education system;

Amendment 33 #

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas the development of digital skills is vital in order to adapt to the changing needs of an increasingly digitised labour market and to combat job losses ~~and adverse social phenomena, such as lack of~~, improve the access to basic services and address the digital and social exclusion;

Amendment 34 #

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas the development of digital skills is vital ~~in order~~for all categories of people in order to be able to adapt to the changing needs of an increasingly digitised ~~labour market~~world and to combat discrimination, job losses and adverse social phenomena, such as lack of access to basic services and digital and social exclusion; whereas during the confinement period, online communication was the only means for families to stay in touch, thus leaving behind elderly people who did not have digital support;

Amendment 35 #

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas the development of digital skills is vital in order to adapt to the changing needs of an increasingly digitised labour market and to combat job losses and adverse social phenomena, such as lack ofing access to basic services ands well as digital and social exclusion; whereas access to digital technologies has been improved throughout Europe but gender and generation gaps as well as disparities between different socio-economic backgrounds and urban/rural areas still persists and pose a threat to competitiveness and decent jobs;

Amendment 36 #

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas the development of digital skills is vital in order to adapt to the changing needs of an increasingly digitised labour market and to combat job losses and adverse social phenomena, such as lack of access to basic services and digital and social exclusion; whereas the lifelong education has a good potential in closing the gap between the skills and needs of the labour market;

Amendment 37 #

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas the ~~development of digital skills~~upskilling and reskilling by digital/online training and development of digital skills is not only an individual but also a social responsibility and is vital in order to adapt to the changing needs of an increasingly digitised labour market and to combat job losses and adverse social phenomena, such as lack of access to basic services and digital and social exclusion;

Amendment 38 #

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas the development of digital skills is vital in order to adapt to the changing needs of an increasingly digitised labour market, as well as to new working realities such as telework, and to combat job losses and adverse social phenomena, such as lack of access to basic services and digital and social exclusion;

Amendment 39 #

Draft opinion
Recital C

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Recital A

A. whereas countries that have greater availability of broadband internet in homes also have a greater number of citizens with basic or advanced digital skills, although inequalities to access IT tools and internet still exist;

Amendment 40 #

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas the early and life-long development of digital skills is vital in order to adapt to the changing needs of an increasingly digitised labour market and to combat job losses and adverse social phenomena, such as lack of access to basic services and digital and social exclusion;

Amendment 41 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas the green and digital transitions represent a significant challenge to the labour markets, affecting sectors and firms differently and exacerbating qualification gaps and inequalities between workers as well as between firms; whereas it is estimated that 30% of jobs in the EU (50% globally) will disappear over the next 25 years to be replaced by jobs requiring advanced digital skills; whereas education, training and life-long-learning will play a key role with regard to the just transition to the digital economy;

Amendment 42 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas online learning and teaching, as well as digital tools, must remain complementary to regular schooling and teaching methods at all stages of the education period; whereas those responsible for the education of children remain the teachers and educators; whereas parents cannot and should not replace these professionals even with online teachings;

Amendment 43 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas education is an investment in our common future and a principal instrument for the development and self-realisation of each individual; quality education positively impacts social cohesion as a pre-condition for economic growth, job creation and employment;

Amendment 44 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas digital literacy is quickly becoming an ubiquitous skill required for jobs which previously had little or no connection to the digital sphere, including vocational or manual labour jobs;

Amendment 45 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas we should be mindful of the importance of physical interaction and communication and the consequent social and soft skills;

Amendment 46 #

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas ~~there are practically no evaluation documents, both for individual projects and for Member States’ national digitisation strategies as a whole, which makes it impossible to identify a~~it is difficult to identify a clear link between a given intervention and an observed increase in digital ~~skill~~qualifications due to a lack of research on digitalisation strategies;

Amendment 47 #

Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)

Da. whereas a multi-stakeholder approach involving business, international organisations, academia and civil society is increasingly important;

Amendment 48 #

Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)

Da. whereas there is a clear need for the quality data gathering and exchange of best practices among member states;

Amendment 49 #

Draft opinion
Recital E

E. whereas supporting digital readiness in general and vocational schools, as well as personalisation and innovation in education systems, may help to improve learning outcomes, contribute to achieving greater fairness ~~and~~, increase the effectiveness of education and address job polarisation;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Recital A

A. whereas countries that have greater availability of broadband internet in homes also have a greater number of citizens with basic or advanced digital skills; whereas numerous regions suffer from low connectivity and conversely this leads to insufficient access for local citizens to opportunities for developing digital skills, creating a digital labour divide which can deepen as time passes;

Amendment 50 #

Draft opinion
Recital E

E. whereas supporting digital readiness in general and vocational schools, as well as personalisation and innovation in education systems, may help to improve learning outcomes, contribute to achieving greater fairness and increase the quality, inclusiveness and effectiveness of education;

Amendment 51 #

Draft opinion
Recital E

E. whereas supporting digital readiness in general and vocational schools, as well as personalisation and innovation in education systems, may help learners at all ages to improve learning outcomes, contribute to achieving greater fairness and increase the effectiveness of education;

Amendment 52 #

Draft opinion
Recital E a (new)

Ea. whereas furthering and updating digital skills is a priority for people already in active employment who are seeing their work gradually becoming more automated and digitalised;

Amendment 53 #

Draft opinion
Recital E a (new)

Ea. whereas any digital education strategy must apply a lifelong learning approach, cut across education and training sectors and cover both formal and non-formal education settings;

Amendment 54 #

Draft opinion
Recital E a (new)

Ea. whereas digital tools can help the process of learning, they must remain complementary to physical presence of educators as well as their expertise and judgement;

Amendment 55 #

Draft opinion
Recital E a (new)

Ea. whereas digital education should help address certain challenges, such as disinformation and radicalisation;

Amendment 56 #

Draft opinion
Recital E b (new)

Eb. whereas VET is an essential part of European education systems equipping young people and adults with qualifications and competences necessary for employment and lifelong learning; whereas VET accounts for about half of the upper secondary graduates in the European Union; whereas VET will play a crucial role when addressing the challenges of the green and digital transitions, and will be key to provide workers with the necessary qualifications for the EU labour market;

Amendment 57 #

Draft opinion
Recital E b (new)

Eb. whereas special attention should also be paid to children with special educational needs who have a learning problem or disability that make it more difficult for them to learn remotely than for most children of their age;

Amendment 58 #

Draft opinion
Recital E c (new)

Ec. whereas digital illiteracy and low levels of digital qualifications are putting the democratic foundations of society at risk as they are a barrier to social inclusion and increase citizens’ vulnerability with regard to identity and data thefts, cyberbullying, disinformation campaigns and online scams;

Amendment 59 #

Draft opinion
Recital E d (new)

Ed. whereas COVID-19 has highlighted that when defining the goals, the mechanisms and the means of the digital education a multi-stakeholder approach should be followed;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas already 85% of citizens used the internet in 2019 and only 58% possessed at least basic digital skills1a; whereas the employment landscape is rapidly evolving and it is estimated that 65% of today´s children entering primary school will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that still do not exist1b; __________________ 1aDigital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2020, European Commission 1bThe World Economic Forum, "The future of jobs" September 2018

Amendment 60 #

Draft opinion
Recital E e (new)

Ee. whereas the European Council proposed severe cuts to flagships programmes for education like Erasmus+ in the context of the next MFF; whereas the European Parliament has called repeatedly for an ambitious budget and an increase in the sums allocated to the programmes related to education; whereas the European Parliament supports the allocation of 10% of the recovery fund for education;

Amendment 61 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)

-1. Highlights that a persistent divide still exists between and within the EU Member States with regard to digital infrastructure and digital skills, which could lead to social and digital exclusion and hinder the EU’s inclusive growth; calls on the Commission and the Members States to strengthen the investments in digital infrastructure, digital education and development of digital skills in order to ensure that EU will take a leading role in shaping the digital age;

Amendment 62 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)

-1a. Stresses that the Member States should ensure that educational institutions and educators are well prepared to provide distance learning; invites the Member States and the relevant national and regional authorities to provide adequate digital infrastructure, teaching materials and skilled teachers which is a precondition for delivering online learning efficiently;

Amendment 63 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Stresses the need to ~~train teacher~~pay specific attention to the continuous training and professional development of teachers and trainers at all levels, including in VET, and provide them IT tools in order to improve their digital skills, including skills assessments and certification mechanisms, through ~~such~~ programmes such as e-Twinning, EPALE and Erasmus+; stresses the need to put teachers and trainers at all levels at the heart of the digital education process, both in the design and execution;

Amendment 64 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Stresses the need to ~~train teachers~~ensure that teachers and educational professionals have access to training and that they can allocate time for it in order to improve their digital skills and pedagogies, including skills assessments and certification mechanisms, through such programmes as e-Twinning, EPALE and Erasmus+, and to be able to promote quality education for their students;

Amendment 65 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

Amendment 66 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Stresses the need to train teachers and educators in order to improve their digital skills, including skills assessments and certification mechanisms~~, through such programmes as e-Twinning, EPALE and Erasmus+~~ as well as their understanding of potential challenges for students, through such programmes as e-Twinning, EPALE and Erasmus+; Stresses that such competences are equally important for other professions and places of work; insists on the importance of inclusive lifelong learning to develop the use of digital competence for all;

Amendment 67 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Stresses the need to train teachers in order to improve their digital skills, including skills assessments and certification mechanisms, through such programmes as e-Twinning, EPALE and Erasmus+; points also to the need to enhance skills in the areas of artificial intelligence, the ethical framework governing the use of such tools, and data processing;

Amendment 68 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Stresses the need to train teachers and make digital equipment available to them in order to improve their digital skills, including skills assessments and certification mechanisms, through such programmes as e-Twinning, EPALE and Erasmus+;

Amendment 69 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Recalls that the Erasmus+ programme is the primary funding instrument to support the construction of the European Education Area; criticises, therefore, the cuts proposed by the Council and the Commission to this programme and reiterates its call for the Erasmus+ budget to be tripled compared to the 2014-2020 MFF; calls for the allocation of 10% of the EU's recovery plan to education; calls upon Member States to allocate 10% of their GDP to education;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas the European Union is based on a set of common, fundamental values, which include respect for human dignity, freedom, equality and respect for human rights and the rights of people belonging to minorities; whereas Member States have the responsibility to ensure equal access to education for all;

Amendment 70 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Underlines that the COVID-19 pandemic showed that not all learners can access distance learning, in particular those from disadvantaged backgrounds and in remote areas; calls on the Member States to undertake immediate targeted actions in the field of digital education to ensure that people from vulnerable groups are not left with lower educational opportunities and to avoid intensifying the inequalities they already face;

Amendment 71 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Stresses the large disparities that remain between countries and regions across the EU regarding the provision of digital infrastructure and equipment in schools1a, which particularly affects remote and peripheral areas, including the outermost regions, and specially sparsely and depopulated areas; __________________ 1a‘Rethinking education in the digital age’, EPRS, March 2020

Amendment 72 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1b. Stresses the need to align the revised Digital Education Action Plan (DEAP) to the relevant principles of the EPSR, the UN SDGs and the Gender Equality Strategy;

Amendment 73 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)

1c. Stresses the need of teachers and trainers at all levels, including in VET, having high digital qualifications and the necessary technological equipment at their disposal to be able to prepare students and apprentices for the digital transition and the labour market in the digital age;

Amendment 74 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)

1d. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to maximise their efforts to invest in affordable, accessible, inclusive and high-quality VET, to reinforce upskilling and reskilling measures, including digital and transferable skills, and to promote lifelong learning to prepare workers for the needs of the labour market affected by the green and digital transformations;

Amendment 75 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)

1e. Highlights that digital qualifications development and lifelong learning are key tools to achieve quality jobs, fair salaries and decent working conditions; recalls that green and digital transitions represent a significant challenge to the labour markets; calls, therefore, on the Member States to define effective qualification strategies including concrete targets within their national VET and adult learning policies to support workers and the unemployed;

Amendment 76 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)

1f. Stresses the need to take the European Social Partners Framework Agreement on Digitalisation into consideration when defining the DEAP; recalls that the aforementioned agreement outlines the responsibility of employers to upskill and reskill workers, in particular in view of the digitalisation of jobs;

Amendment 77 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 g (new)

1g. Underlines the importance of corporate investment in formal and informal training and life-long learning in order to support the just transition towards the digital economy; stresses in this context that companies deploying AI, robotics and related technologies have the responsibility of providing adequate re- skilling and up-skilling for all employees concerned in order for them to learn how to use digital tools and to work with co- bots and other new technologies, thereby adapting to changing needs of the labour market and staying in employment;

Amendment 78 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 h (new)

1h. Welcomes the proposal for a Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience; supports the overall aims of the proposal to modernise the Union policy on VET, to streamline the European cooperation in the process and simplify VET governance; highlights the central role of VET in the context of life-long learning and the need of continuous training and qualification of workers in the transition to a green and digital economy;

Amendment 79 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 i (new)

1i. Highlights that VET systems should play an equally important role for adults in need of up- and reskilling; calls on the Commission to adopt a holistic approach to VET and adult learning reaching across formal, non-formal and informal learning; calls on Member States to make VET more attractive and accessible to adult learners, and to create stronger links and cooperation between VET for adults and non-formal adult learning to promote key competences, including solid basic skills, digital, transversal, green and other life skills which provide strong foundations for resilience, lifelong employability, social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas vulnerable groups of European society generally suffer from a lack of access to adequate resources, including to up-to-date technology and equipment, which are costly to obtain and maintain, which leads to a widening digital access gap across the Union;

Amendment 80 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Member States to ~~guarante~~ensure that all ~~educational establishments and all students have access to broadband internet, which is a prerequisite for the process of improving digital skill~~households and public institutions have access to broadband internet and IT tools in order to tackle the digital divide, especially with regard to vulnerable groups;

Amendment 81 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Member States to guarantee that all educational establishments and all students have access to ~~broadb~~IT tools and internet, which is a prerequisite for the process of improving digital skills;

Amendment 82 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. ~~Calls on~~Urges the Member States to guarantee that all educational establishments and all students have access to broadband internet, which is a prerequisite for the process of improving digital skills;

Amendment 83 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Member States to guarantee that all educational establishments and all students have access to electricity and broadband internet, which is a prerequisite for the process of improving digital skills; and participating in online education; highlights that difference in people’s socio-economic background resulting in a divergence in their access to electricity, digital connectivity, digital equipment and skills create a digital divide between students; stresses that this prevents those in the most disadvantaged groups from engaging in digital technology in a way that is beneficial for both their personal and professional development, therefore, increasing the risk of becoming passive consumers;

Amendment 84 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

Amendment 85 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Member States to guarantee that all educational establishments and all students have access to broadband ~~internet~~, high-speed internet including also the remote and rural areas, which is a prerequisite for the process of improving digital skills;

Amendment 86 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Member States to guarantee that all educational establishments and all students have access to quality digital infrastructure and broadband internet, which is a prerequisite for the process of improving digital skills;

Amendment 87 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Member States to guarantee that all educational establishments and all students have access to necessary digital tools and broadband internet, which is a prerequisite for the process of improving digital skills;

Amendment 88 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

Amendment 89 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Member States to guarantee that all educational establishments and all students have access to broadband internet and needed equipment, which is a prerequisite for the process of improving digital skills;

Amendment 9 #

Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas 44% of the EU population have low-level digital skills or none at all1a; __________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/ rep/1/2018/EN/COM-2018-24-F1-EN- MAIN-PART-1.PDF

Amendment 90 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Member States to guarantee that all educational establishments and all students have access to broadband internet, which is a prerequisite for the process of improving digital skills; stresses, therefore, the need to foster synergies between European instruments such as Erasmus+, Horizon Europe, InvestEU, the European structural and investment funds, the Connecting Europe Facility and the digital education action plan, which are the best placed to deliver financial support for the development of digital education; recalls that 20% of funds to be supplied under the Recovery and Resilience Facility have been earmarked for the digital transition, which means they may be used to strengthen the digital capacity of education systems;

Amendment 91 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Stresses the importance of a number of European instruments which can be used for the development of formal and non-formal education as well as investment in educational infrastructure, digital equipment in schools, such as ESIF, Connecting Europe Facility, Horizon Europe, Erasmus+, European Solidarity Corps, new Digital Education Action Plan; furthermore investments at national level are also inevitable;

Amendment 92 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Calls on the Member States to define effective upskilling and reskilling strategies within their national adult learning policies to support workers and the unemployed with quality and inclusive skills provision;

Amendment 93 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to make greater use of RRF and CEF funds for improving telecommunications infrastructure and digital literacy objectives;

Amendment 94 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)

2b. Highlights the need to ensure effective social dialogue on vocational education and training and adult learning to consolidate efficient governance of vocational training at all levels, as well as the need to respect full qualifications and recognition and validation of training, work experience, and non-formal and informal learning;

Amendment 95 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Commission and Member States to work together to reduce educational inequalities by removeing barriers to access to ~~education, with particular emphasis o~~and participation in digital education, in order to improve digital skills;

Amendment 96 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Member States to remove barriers to equal access to ~~education, with particular emphasis on digital education, in order to improve digital skill~~quality inclusive digital education and training for all age learners and workers, particularly for vulnerable groups, in order to improve digital skills such as key competence, basic skills and professional skills development, to reduce the digital gap, including the gender-based digital divide, and to ensure that it is considered as a right in line with the European Pillar of Social Rights;

Amendment 97 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Member States to remove access barrier~~s to acces~~s to education, with particular emphasis on digital education, in order to improve digital ~~skill~~qualifications;

Amendment 98 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. ~~Calls on~~Urges the Member States to remove barriers to access to education, with particular emphasis on digital education, in order to improve digital skills;

Amendment 99 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. CHighlights the acute need to step up policy initiatives, which aim to reduce the digital skills gap and increase the digital literacy; calls on the Member States to remove barriers to access to education, with particular emphasis on digital education, in order to improve digital skills and address the digital exclusion;

source: 659.046

2020/11/19 CULT 229 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)

- having regard to Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)

A b. whereas the impact of digitalisation lies in the potential of accessible, open, social and personalised technologies that can bring about more inclusive learning paths and a learning continuum between formal, non-formal and informal learning;

Amendment 100 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

Amendment 101 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to create new channels to connect with girls and to implement tools that encourage girls and women to engage with the various forms of digital education; stresses that persisting gender gaps within education need to be tackled by educating and training teachers and other educators at every stage of education in the process of forming expectations and biases towards digital skills and the ICT career, as from an early age women face discrimination and prejudice with regards to their digital skills and potential to participate in digital education and ICT labour market; calls for efficient funding and strategies that include positive action, lifelong learning and active encouragement for girls to undertake studies in ICT and STEM subjects; underlines that the most efficient use of resources is to create a dedicated funding instrument to address the digital gender gap; emphasises the need to invest in re-skilling and up-skilling programmes for women in digital literacy and relevant digital skills; recalls that the digital sector is changing at an increasingly fast pace, and that is therefore only prudent to implement policies creating lifelong learning opportunities for women and young girls;

Amendment 102 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Recalls that the scope for Erasmus+ to support the Plan hinges on its financial envelope; deplores, in that regard, the Commission’s revised proposal of May 2020 and the European Council MFF agreement of July 2020, which starve the programme of the money needed to deliver transformative change; recalls its insistence that the budget be tripled compared to 2014-2020; welcomes the new agreement reached in the budgetary negotiations and the increased envelope for Erasmus+ which partially covers the demands of the European Parliament;

Amendment 103 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)

5 b. Welcomes the Commission’s recognition that more systematic research on the future of education and training is needed; calls for more investment in cross-disciplinary and longitudinal research in order to assess the long-term impacts of digitalisation on learning, as well as, the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of digital education policies; notes that the effects of digital education on children’s development, learning and wellbeing in the early ages have to be studied; considers, therefore, that recommendations to include online and distance learning in primary education should be grounded in scientific evidences;

Amendment 104 #

Martina MICHELS, Pernando BARRENA ARZA, Alexis GEORGOULIS, Niyazi KIZILYÜREK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Welcomes the Commission’s scheduled mid-term review of the plan and its intention to ramp up data collection; reiterates the need for a clear implementation timetable; calls on the Commission to present to the Parliament clear benchmarks and milestones for the implementation phases of the Digital Education Action Plan; remains convinced that the plan needs a clearer governance and coordination structure, in which Parliament should be involved, to monitor developments and performance on an ongoing basis; calls on the Commission, therefore, to establish a forum bringing together the Member States, Parliament and other relevant stakeholders and experts; urges the Commission to better integrate digital education into the European Semester exercise;

Amendment 105 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Welcomes the Commission’s scheduled mid-term review of the plan and its intention to ramp up data collection; reiterates the need for a clear implementation timetable; remains convinced that the plan needs a clearer governance and coordination structure, in which Parliament should be involved, to monitor developments and performance on an ongoing basis; calls on the Commission, therefore, to establish a forum bringing together the Member States, Parliament and other relevant stakeholders and experts; urges the Commission to ~~better integrate digital education into the European Semester exercise~~develop synergies between innovative measures to promote digital education under the various European support programmes and to determine and outline their impact in the mid-term assessments;

Amendment 106 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Welcomes the Commission’s scheduled mid-term review of the plan and its intention to ramp up data collection; reiterates the need for a clear implementation timetable; remains convinced that the plan needs a clearer governance and coordination structure, in which Parliament should be involved, to monitor developments and performance on an ongoing basis; calls on the Commission, therefore, to establish a forum bringing together the Member States, Parliament and other relevant stakeholders and experts; ~~urges the Commission to better integrate digital education into the European Semester exercise;~~

Amendment 107 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Welcomes the Commission’s scheduled mid-term review of the plan and its intention to ramp up data collection; reiterates the need for a clear implementation timetable; remains convinced that the plan needs a clearer governance and coordination structure, in which Parliament should be involved, to monitor developments and performance on an ongoing basis; calls on the Commission, therefore, to establish a forum bringing together the Member States, Parliament and other relevant stakeholders, including education providers and civil society organisations, and experts; urges the Commission to better integrate digital education into the European Semester exercise;

Amendment 108 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Welcomes the Commission’s scheduled mid-term review of the plan and its intention to ramp up non-personal data collection; reiterates the need for a clear implementation timetable; remains convinced that the plan needs a clearer governance and coordination structure, in which Parliament should be involved, to monitor developments and performance on an ongoing basis; calls on the Commission, therefore, to establish a forum bringing together the Member States, Parliament and other relevant stakeholders and experts; urges the Commission to better integrate digital education into the European Semester exercise;

Amendment 109 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Insists that the next Digital Education Action Plan is fully gender- mainstreamed; stresses that digital education must play a substantial role in increasing the participation of girls and women in the digital age and, especially, in fields related to digital entrepreneurship, ICT and STEM as well as eliminating the digital gender gap and ensuring better digital inclusion and digital literacy by building on best practices; points out that the gender gaps in higher education persist to the job market as only 5 out of the 20 most common occupations in the EU are gender balanced (40/60 ratio) between women and men according to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)5a; _________________ 5ahttps://eige.europa.eu/news/education- key-breaking-gender-stereotypes ; https://eige.europa.eu/publications/study- and-work-eu-set-apart-gender-report

Amendment 11 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)

A c. whereas innovative education methodologies, enhanced through digital technologies, can equip citizens with life skills such as creative thinking, curiosity and problem-solving skills.

Amendment 110 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Calls on the Commission, to establish a forum bringing together the Member States, Parliament and other relevant stakeholders and experts; urges the Commission to better integrate digital education into the European Semester exercise and to expand its current focus on the economic impact of education to include social objectives, online and offline, as well as a focus on the quality of educational provision; considers that the European Semester should better reflect the pace of education reforms that often do not adjust well to the Semester´s timeframe; underlines the need to increase the role and visibility of education in the European Semester exercise;

Amendment 111 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6 b. Notes that Member States will come out of the Covid19 crisis with historically high debt levels; points out that the classification of education as expenditure in national accounting has led to a sizeable cut in education budgets in previous crises; stresses that the digital transition in education will not be possible without a sizeable investment; calls for education expenditure to be reclassified as an investment in national accounts;

Amendment 112 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Welcomes the Digital Education Hubs as a first step towards a co-creation process involving key stakeholders; calls on the Commission to supervise implementation at national level and ensure fair representation and independence within the hubs; calls on the Commission to fully involve Parliament in creating European and national hubs and in nominating relevant stakeholders;deleted

Amendment 113 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Welcomes the Digital Education Hubs as a first step towards a co-creation process involving key stakeholders, including civil society organisations; calls on the Commission to supervise implementation at national level and ensure fair representation and independence within the hubs, advisory services and stakeholder consultations; calls on the Commission to fully involve Parliament in creating European and national hubs, advisory services and stakeholder consultations and in nominating relevant stakeholders;

Amendment 114 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

Amendment 115 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Welcomes the Digital Education Hubs as a first step towards a co-creation process involving key stakeholders; calls on the Commission ~~to supervise~~whilst respecting the principle of subsidiarity to supervise where necessary implementation at national level and ensure fair representation and independence within the hubs; calls on the Commission to fully involve Parliament in creating European and national hubs and in nominating relevant stakeholders;

Amendment 116 #

Martina MICHELS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

Amendment 117 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Alexander BERNHUBER, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Željana ZOVKO, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Iuliu WINKLER, Peter POLLÁK, Loucas FOURLAS, Milan ZVER, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Christian EHLER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Stresses the importance of a number of European instruments which can be used for the development of formal and non-formal education as well as investment in educational infrastructure and digital equipments in schools, such as the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), the Connecting Europe Facility, Horizon Europe, Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps and the new Digital Education Action Plan; points out furthermore that investments at national level are also essential;

Amendment 118 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Calls for interdisciplinary research into the various impacts of digital technologies on education and development of children, linking education sciences, pedagogy, psychology, sociology, neuroscience and computer science so as to achieve as deep an understanding as possible of how the minds of children and adults are responding to the digital environment and what challenges might be connected with digital education;

Amendment 119 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to pay attention to the validation of digital skills as well as to innovative digital validation tools and methods in the Digital Education Action Plan;

Amendment 12 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Željana ZOVKO, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Alexander BERNHUBER, Iuliu WINKLER, Peter POLLÁK, Loucas FOURLAS, Christian EHLER, Milan ZVER, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas digital technologies are reshaping society, making basic digital skills and digital literacy now essential for all citizens; whereas digital technologies should be perceived as a tool to provide quality education and training: whereas in the future there will be an increased need for digital skills (coding, logistics and robotics) which will concern not only IT education courses but will touch upon the curriculum as a whole;

Amendment 120 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)

7 b. Recommends that the Commission merge the two separate platforms planned, the European Exchange Platform and the European Digital Education Hub given that they seem to have the same aim of sharing training materials and resources in digital education.

Amendment 121 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Loucas FOURLAS, Alexander BERNHUBER, Iuliu WINKLER, Peter POLLÁK, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Milan ZVER, Christian EHLER, Željana ZOVKO, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)

7 b. Supports the Erasmus+ programme and the increase of its budget in order to make it more efficient and inclusive; supports volunteering as the key activity of the ESC;

Amendment 122 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Notes with satisfaction the growing number of digital education platforms being set up; calls on the Commission, in particular through a dedicated Knowledge and Innovation Community within the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, and the Erasmus+ and InvestEU programmes, to support the creation of pan-European platforms for the broad dissemination of educational content and tools in an inclusive and multilingual way; stresses the importance for teachers and pupils to have access to content hosted and stored in a Member State and not in a third country; notes the huge potential of the eTwinning platform and calls on the Commission to promote it as widely as possible;

Amendment 123 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)

7 c. Underlines that the post-pandemic recovery and revitalisation of European education policy is strictly connected to the other challenges that the European Union and the world are facing, starting with the climate crisis; is convinced that future education policy has to be deeply interconnected with social challenges as well as to the Green and digital transitions;

Amendment 124 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 d (new)

7 d. Encourages Member States to embrace innovation and include technologies in their education and training systems in a smart, learner- centred way, without forgetting that technology is to complement in-person learning and not to replace it;

Amendment 125 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Deplores the persistent digital divide in the Union; regrets the fact that in some Member States, like Romania, efforts to provide access to quality digital education have failed, leaving more than 30 % of pupils without access to education for several months; shares the Commission’s analysis that fast and reliable internet and quality digital equipment in educational establishments, non-formal settingnotes the Commission’s analysis that fast and reliable internet and quality digital equipment in educational establishments, non-formal settings and at home are among the prerequisites for effective digital education; notes, however, that certain Member States thanks to dedicated public investments are far ahead in their development and use of digital solutions for education; believes that public-private partnerships can~~d the home are prerequisites for effective~~ speed up the pace of developing and adopting digital education solutions;

Amendment 126 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Deplores the persistent digital divide in the Union; regrets the fact that in some Member States, ~~like Romania,~~ efforts to provide access to quality digital education have failed, leaving ~~more than 30 % of~~too many pupils without access to education for several months; shares the Commission’s analysis that fast and reliable internet and quality digital equipment in educational establishments, non-formal settings and the home are prerequisites for effective digital education;

Amendment 127 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Peter POLLÁK, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Milan ZVER, Christian EHLER, Željana ZOVKO, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Loucas FOURLAS, Alexander BERNHUBER, Iuliu WINKLER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Deplores the persistent digital divide in the Union; regrets the fact that in some Member States~~, like Romania,~~ efforts to provide access to quality digital education have failed, leaving more than 30 % of pupils without access to education for several months; shares the Commission’s analysis that fast and reliable internet and quality digital equipment in educational establishments, non-formal settings and the home are prerequisites for effective digital education;

Amendment 128 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

Amendment 129 #

Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas digital technologies are reshaping society, making basic digital skills and digital literacy now essential for all citizens of all ages; whereas learners will never be on an equal footing to acquire digital skills as long as there are such large gaps in basic skills levels, particularly affecting disadvantaged groups and a high number of adults;

Amendment 130 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. underlines the difficulties faced by VET institutions, which rely on hands-on training, in adapting to the digital environment; calls for adequate solutions and proper funding in order to ensure that VET education can be effectively delivered;

Amendment 131 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Insists that broadband should be considered a public good and be universally accessible and affordable as a critical step in closing the digital divide; calls for specific measures to enhance access for remote, rural and mountain areas with low connectivity and limited access to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, blockchain, new educational devices or gamification, in the light of their growing importance and potential; calls for a new initiative on AI and robotics for education;

Amendment 132 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Christian EHLER, Željana ZOVKO, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Loucas FOURLAS, Alexander BERNHUBER, Iuliu WINKLER, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Peter POLLÁK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Insists that broadband should be considered a public good and be universally accessible as a critical step in closing the digital divide; calls for specific measures to enhance access for remote, rural and mountain areas with low connectivity and limited access to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, blockchain, new educational devices or gamification, in the light of their growing importance and potential; calls for a new initiative on AI and robotics for education; recalls furthermore that an ethical and human- centric Al approach should be ensured by EU programmes and schemes;

Amendment 133 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Insists that broadband should be considered a public good and its infrastructure should be adequately funded in order to be universally accessible as a critical step in closing the digital divide; calls for specific measures to enhance access for educational institutions, especially those in remote, rural and mountain areas with low connectivity and limited access to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, blockchain, open source, new educational devices or(computer and tablets) or online and offline gamification, in the light of their growing importance and potential; calls for ~~a new~~Member States to promote and facilitate access to funding schemes to provide educational institutions with such technologies and tools; calls for a new learner-centred initiative on AI and robotics for education;

Amendment 134 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Insists that broadband should be considered a public good and be universally accessible as a critical step in closing the digital divide; calls for specific measures to enhance access for remote, rural and mountain areas with low connectivity and limited access to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, blockchain, new educational devices or gamification, in the light of their growing importance and potential; calls for ~~a new initiative on AI and robotics for education;~~inclusion of AI and robotics for education in the future AI legislation; encourages Member States to use available sources under the recovery funds to strengthen digital infrastructure and access to digital technologies for vulnerable groups

Amendment 135 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Insists that broadband should be considered a public good and be universally accessible as a critical step in closing the digital divide; calls for specific measures to enhance access for remote, rural and mountain areas with low connectivity and limited access to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, blockchain, new educational devices or gamification, in the light of their growing importance and potential; ~~calls for a new~~notes the potential that the deployment of 5G could have in Europe and invit~~iative on AI and robotics for education~~es the Commission to study the possible contributions of 5G to e-learning;

Amendment 136 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Insists that broadband should be considered a public good and be universally accessible as a critical step in closing the digital divide; calls for specific measures to enhance access for all schools, especially those in remote, rural and mountain areas with low connectivity and limited access to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, blockchain, new educational devices or gamification, in the light of their growing importance and potential; calls for a new initiative on AI and robotics for education;

Amendment 137 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Predrag Fred MATIĆ, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a. Calls for a new initiative on AI and robotics for education; notes that AI- based applications in education are facilitating progress in various disciplines such as language learning and maths;

Amendment 138 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a. Encourages the Commission and the Member States to address the gender gap in the digital ecosystem and focus on better inclusion of girls in digital education from a very young age;

Amendment 139 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)

9 b. Underlines the importance of adapting the digital education process to an integrated pedagogical, cognitive and psychological approach taking into consideration all the dimensions of education with regards to different age groups; reiterates the importance for digital education to be based on easy-to- master mental maps, adapted cognitive workload, interleaved and spaced practices; calls on the Commission and the Member States to study and invest more resources in the initial steps, approach and training, in online and offline formats, towards the development of digital skills and digital education; underlines the need to further elaborate on the European strategy for early and childhood education focused on building an online playground for pupils;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas digital technologies are reshaping society, making ~~basic~~ digital skills and digital literacy now essential for ~~all citizens~~everyone;

Amendment 140 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)

9 c. Stresses the importance of the Union taking the lead in digital education by seeking to enable an easy use of the innovations or technologies implemented, adapted to the infrastructure available and accessible to the biggest number of teachers, learners and parents;

Amendment 141 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Welcomes the plan’s focus on supporting school and university connectivity through the Connecting Europe Facility and efforts to publicise EU funding opportunities; calls on the Commission to work closely with Member States, local authorities and stakeholders to ensure that EU support dovetails with national schemes, in particular to support disadvantaged groups; calls on the Commission to target support at ~~other~~all formal and non-formal educational establishments ~~besides schools~~;

Amendment 142 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Welcomes the plan’s focus on supporting school and university connectivity through the Connecting Europe Facility and efforts to publicise EU funding opportunities; calls on the Commission to work closely with Member States, local authorities and stakeholders to ensure that EU support dovetails with national schemes, in particular to support disadvantaged groups; calls on the Commission to target support at other educational establishments besides schools; highlights that educational establishments should be given considerable autonomy in achieving innovation and in developing teaching methods for education in the digital era, as they are closest to the learner;

Amendment 143 #

Martina MICHELS, Pernando BARRENA ARZA, Alexis GEORGOULIS, Niyazi KIZILYÜREK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Welcomes the plan’s focus on supporting school and university connectivity through the Connecting Europe Facility and efforts to publicise EU funding opportunities; calls on the Commission to work closely with Member States, local authorities and stakeholders to ensure that EU support dovetails with national schemes, in particular to support disadvantaged groups; calls on the Commission to target support at other educational establishments besides schools, this support to be provided on a long-term basis by trained staff who oversee networks and applications and provide basic instruction in data protection;

Amendment 144 #

Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Welcomes the plan’s focus on supporting school and university connectivity through the Connecting Europe Facility and efforts to publicise EU funding opportunities; calls on the Commission to work closely with Member States, local authorities and stakeholders to ensure that EU support dovetails with national schemes, in particular to support disadvantaged groups; calls on the Commission to target support at other educational establishments, both public and private, such as vocational training centres or employment training centres, besides schools;

Amendment 145 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Welcomes the plan’s focus on supporting school and university connectivity through the Connecting Europe Facility and efforts to publicise EU funding opportunities; calls on the Commission to work closely with Member States, local authorities and stakeholders to ensure that EU support dovetails with national schemes, in particular to support disadvantaged groups; calls on the Commission to target support at other educational establishments besides schools, such as vocational education centres and early childhood education centres;

Amendment 146 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Welcomes the plan’s focus on supporting school and university connectivity through the Connecting Europe Facility and efforts to publicise EU funding opportunities; calls on the Commission to work closely with Member States, local authorities and relevant stakeholders to ensure that EU support dovetails with national schemes, in particular to support disadvantaged groups; calls on the Commission to target support at other educational and community establishments besides schools;

Amendment 147 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Highlights the positive role AI can play in fostering equity and quality in education for all stakeholders, including by easing of the workload of educational staff and making educational content more engaging and customised for students' needs; is concerned about the fact that public investment in AI in the Union has been vastly lagging behind that of other major economies; calls for increased focus on public investment in AI;

Amendment 148 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Recalls that the rise of digital merchandising of educational resources poses risks in to the pedagogical freedom of teachers and educators, as well as data security and privacy concerns; believes that possible ways to balance out the digital space and ensure fairer outcomes for all would be to incentivise free and open source solutions and the interoperability of hardware and software;

Amendment 149 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Calls on the Commission to factor in differing levels of technological advancement across and within the Member States and between education sectors and institutions and to pay particular attention to harder-to-reach areas and groups when producing recommendations and guidance; underlines the need for a cross-sectoral and in-depth approach towards digital education;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas there is a digital skills gender gap of 11%1a ; whereas women are significantly underrepresented in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector (accounting for 17% out of 8 million specialists in the EU) and among science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates (36%), with the share of men working in a digital sector being 3.1 times greater than that of women, despite the fact that girls outperform boys in digital literacy2a; whereas the share of women in this sector is decreasing and the percentage of women in ICT careers still remains below 2% of women's total share in the European labour market; _________________ 1aEuropean Commission 2019 Women in Digital Scoreboard 2019 2aCommission communication of 5 March 2020 entitled "A Union of Equality: Gender Equality Strategy 2020- 2025", COM/2020/152 final

Amendment 150 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)

10 b. Considers that the Union can play a key role in helping develop and make available high-quality educational content, building on promising schemes like e-twinning; considers the European exchange platform to have potential as a tool to ensure better cooperation between stakeholders and education actors at European level and calls on the Commission to complete its planned feasibility study with due speed; recalls the need to facilitate the rapid exchange of best practices and urges the Commission to support efforts to scale up successful initiatives;

Amendment 151 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)

10 b. Notes that AI-enabled personalised learning experiences can not only help increase students' motivation and help them reach their full potential, but also help reduce drop-out rates; further notes that AI can increasingly help teachers improve their effectiveness thanks to an increased understanding of the students' learning methods and styles, by helping to identify learning difficulties and by better assessing the individual progress achieved;

Amendment 152 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)

10 c. Encourages Member States to promote flexible models of education and support for distance learners using such means as e-resources, e-materials, videos, e-mentorship and free online training; insists on the need for an open and transparent digital education environment with regard to the content, devices and technologies that are being used and calls on the Commission and Member States to guarantee the independence of educational systems from any interference or interests;

Amendment 153 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)

10 c. Is deeply concerned about insufficient AI-specific higher education programmes in the EU as well as a lack of AI researchers pursuing an academic career in EU-based universities; is of the view that in order to remain competitive, the EU needs to foster and retain a large pool of digital talent with advanced digital skills;

Amendment 154 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 d (new)

10 d. Calls on the Commission and Member States to initiate a quality digital education certification and credential infrastructure, applicable at European level, for digital content, digital platforms and digital infrastructures and technologies that will offer the possibility for beneficiaries to access a wide-variety of resources and that will enable an open- market educational environment and the possibility for new (European) initiatives;

Amendment 155 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 d (new)

10 d. Calls for dedicated initiatives to increase the awareness and understanding of both the opportunities and limitations of AI in educational settings;

Amendment 156 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 e (new)

10 e. Welcomes the Commission’s efforts to digitise education and qualifications, including the new Europass platform and the planned Europass Digital Credential Infrastructure; draws attention, at the same time, to the need to improve the functionality of the Europass platform as regards searching for and receiving job and course offers to the need to carry out relevant updates of the information on the platform concerning current courses, training, job offers, and to the need to designate the institutions responsible for this process;

Amendment 157 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 e (new)

10 e. Believes that embracing digital technologies has to go hand-in-hand with modernising existing curricula and learning and teaching methods; stresses in this regard the importance of providing teachers with digital learning opportunities;

Amendment 158 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 f (new)

10 f. Calls on the Member States to promote initiatives through which businesses, civil society organisations and start-ups can present and share high-tech innovation with learners, professors, tutors and parents, including tools and instruments that facilitate digital learning;

Amendment 159 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 g (new)

10 g. Underlines the importance of parents in digital education and calls for a special European study and initiative on digital parenting seeking to help develop a consistent and effective approach across Member States to help parents to adapt to this new digital education environment;

Amendment 16 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Milan ZVER, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Christian EHLER, Loucas FOURLAS, Peter POLLÁK, Iuliu WINKLER, Alexander BERNHUBER, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Željana ZOVKO, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas the impact of new technologies, robotics and Al on employment needs to be fully explored; whereas the labour market will increasingly prioritise a focus on the STEM fields, meaning it is necessary to further develop practical solutions on career guidance, deterrence of student dropouts, online adult learning and requalification;

Amendment 160 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 h (new)

10 h. Underlines that in a holistic approach to education, all learning that happens in and out of compulsory education needs to be valued and recognised, stresses that new learning environments go beyond the formal schooling system, particularly with respect to digital skills and competences, often learned in non-formal and informal settings; calls, therefore for support to non-formal learning providers to increase capacity and resources to be able to offer accessible quality digital education and training.

Amendment 161 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 i (new)

10 i. Underlines the added value of mentorship in developing digital skills and the implementation of digital education methods and practices.

Amendment 162 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Massimiliano SMERIGLIO, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 j (new)

10 j. Welcomes the planned Council Recommendation on the enabling factors for digital education, but urges the Commission to bring forward the date of publication to 2021;

Amendment 163 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Insists that greater attention be devoted to accessible teacher training as the plan is rolled out so as to ensure that teachers and educators not only possess digital skills, but can also teach them; calls for a pan-Union initiative to develop new pedagogical methods for the digital environment; underlines the increasingly important role played by parents and tutors in distance learning and calls for them to be given special training and support mechanisms; notes that more than half of European education systems include digital skills as an interdisciplinary subject already from primary school, also providing the opportunity for these skills to become a compulsory subject in its own right including for assessment of student learning, insists, therefore, on the need to pay more attention to teacher training during the various stages of implementation of the Plan, so as to ensure that they not only possess digital skills, but can also teach them; to this end, encourages investments in specialisation courses in digital teaching skills for both teachers and IT professionals aspiring to teaching;

Amendment 164 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Insists that greater attention be devoted to teacher training as the plan is rolled out so as to ensure that teachers not only possess digital skills, but can also teach them, freely and within the framework of the pedagogical exception provided for in Directive (EU) 2019/790; calls for a pan-Union initiative to develop new pedagogical methods for the digital environment; underlines the increasingly important role played by parents and tutors in distance learning and calls for them to be given special training and support mechanisms; stresses the essential role of Erasmus+ and teacher mobility for the acquisition of skills; notes with interest the potential of the future Teacher Academy;

Amendment 165 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Loucas FOURLAS, Alexander BERNHUBER, Iuliu WINKLER, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Peter POLLÁK, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Milan ZVER, Christian EHLER, Željana ZOVKO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Insists that greater attention be devoted to teacher training as the plan is rolled out so as to ensure that teachers not only possess digital skills, but can also teach them; calls for a pan-Union initiative to develop new pedagogical methods for the digital environment; underlines the increasingly important role played by parents, families and tutors in distance learning and ~~calls for them to be given special training and support mechanisms~~the need for them to have good internet, digital and technical skills and calls for them to be given special training and support mechanisms; stresses the need to assist all families with digital tools in order to grant access to remote education;

Amendment 166 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Insists that greater attention be devoted to teacher training as the plan is rolled out so as to ensure that teachers not only possess digital skills, but can also teach them; calls for a pan-Union initiative to develop new pedagogical ~~methods for the digital~~and assessment methods for educators and learners to succeed in the digital environment, recognising specific digital challenges such as asynchronous learning and the importance of fostering critical engagement with digital content in today's passive online environment; underlines the increasingly important role played by parents and tutors in distance learning and calls for them to be given special training and support mechanisms;

Amendment 167 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a. Stresses the importance of the portability and certification of digital skills; notes with interest the Commission's initiative to establish a European digital skills passport; calls for it to be developed in accordance both with the systems already in place and usedin the Member States and with the European Digital Competence Framework, in order to avoid duplication and overlapping; stresses the need to integrate this future passport into Europass; calls on the Commission to study its integration into the future European Student Card; calls on the Commission to support the development of European open badges;

Amendment 168 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a. Believes that, in partnership with parents, health professionals, civil society and non-formal education providers, educational institutions need to develop an age-appropriate curriculum, to train people to be critical users of electronic media, to be able to make relevant and informed choices and avoid harmful behaviour; considers that there is a need to reflect on the negative impacts of prolonged “screen time” on the well-being of learners;

Amendment 169 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Loucas FOURLAS, Alexander BERNHUBER, Iuliu WINKLER, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Peter POLLÁK, Milan ZVER, Christian EHLER, Željana ZOVKO, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a. Calls on the European Commission, together with the Member States, to provide financial support for training courses designed for teachers in order to prepare them to carry out teaching activities using the new platforms; notes that the next generation of teachers needs to be equipped with digital skills and competences to prepare children for the future, while exploiting the potential of digital teaching methods;

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas the digital transformation is also apparent throughout the labour market, with 90 % of jobs expected to require some form of digital skills in the future; whereas advanced digital skills are in high demand;

Amendment 170 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a. Stresses that mechanical, technical and digital school subjects quite often have an unconscious male agenda and approach; Highlights that education can be the key for breaking gender stereotypes and these stereotypes should be challenged not reinforced in classrooms in order to create gender- sensitive approaches to education and teaching;

Amendment 171 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a. Notes the value of the SELFIE self-assessment tool and welcomes its extension to teachers, but calls on the Commission to boost the currently low take-up; sees the potential for teacher training support through Erasmus+, but calls on the Commission to provide a clear concept and budget for its proposed Teacher Academies;

Amendment 172 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)

11 b. Notes that training should involve courses on Free and Open Source Software in order to prevent vendor lock- ins in society and to clarify the principles of open technologies; underlines that open technologies support a sense of cooperation and thanks to new technologies such as 3D printing, facilitate access to research and to scientific and innovation communities;

Amendment 173 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Peter POLLÁK, Milan ZVER, Christian EHLER, Željana ZOVKO, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Loucas FOURLAS, Iuliu WINKLER, Alexander BERNHUBER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)

11 b. Calls on the European Commission, together with the Member States to provide schools (teachers and students) not only with technical support and an Internet connection, but also with the necessary support on safe and reliable software, e-learning materials and platforms for best practice sharing to be able to continue with distance learning;

Amendment 174 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)

11 b. Salutes the European Digital Skills Certificate (EDCS) as a tool enabling the development of common education standards for digital skills at European level; underlines the desire of the CULT Committee in the European Parliament to play an active role in the development of the European framework;

Amendment 175 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Sabine VERHEYEN, Loucas FOURLAS, Iuliu WINKLER, Alexander BERNHUBER, Christian EHLER, Željana ZOVKO, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Milan ZVER, Peter POLLÁK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)

11 c. Calls for further enhancements to existing online education platforms which should focus on online education and provide teachers with best practices; calls, in this regard, for better promotion and development of programmes such as the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE) and the School Education Gateway;

Amendment 176 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)

11 c. Recalls the importance of offering teachers, students and parents high- quality, accessible digital education contents from diversified sources; demands that sufficient funding is allocated to the acquisition of professionally produced contents to complement investments in infrastructures and teachers training

Amendment 177 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)

11 c. Welcomes the planned expansion of the Digital Opportunity traineeships to VET learners and to teachers, trainers and educational staff;

Amendment 178 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

~~12.~~ Underlines the challenge of ~~12.~~ cyberthreats, cyberbullying, data and privacy protection, dangerous online games and disinformation in the digital environment, including in terms of mental health and wellbeing; warmly welcomes, therefore, the increased focus on digital and information literacy in the revised plan; looks forward to the swift adoption of the Media Action Plan and the guidelines for teachers and educational staff; calls on the Commission to be more ambitious and to launch large-scale digital literacy campaigns, including soft skills such as Digital collaboration, digital content creation, creativity, digital problem- solving skills, digital and media literacy, learning skills and how to work independently; calls on the Commission to regularly review the effectiveness of the code of practice on online disinformation and adequately tackle social media’s responsibility for and role to fighting against online disinformation;

Amendment 179 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Underlines the challenge of cyberthreats, cyberbullying, data and privacy protection, dangerous online games and disinformation in the digital environment, including in terms of mental health and wellbeing; warmly welcomes, therefore, the increased focus on digital and information literacy in the revised plan; looks forward to the swift adoption of the Media Action Plan and the guidelines for teachers and educational staff; calls on the Commission to be more ambitious and to launch large-scale digital and media literacy campaigns; stresses that while digital skills have to be promoted they should not overshadow traditional and humanistic skills;

Amendment 18 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas basic transversal skills such as numeracy and critical thinking are as important as the acquisition of digital skills and competences;

Amendment 180 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Underlines the challenge of cyberthreats including online child pornography and grooming, cyberbullying, data and privacy protection, dangerous online games and disinformation in the digital environment; warmly welcomes, therefore, the increased focus on digital and information literacy in the revised plan; looks forward to the swift adoption of the Media Action Plan and the guidelines for teachers and educational staff; calls on the Commission to be more ambitious and to launch large-scale digital literacy campaigns; notes the importance of widely promoting events such as the EU Code Week and the Safer Internet Day;

Amendment 181 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Loucas FOURLAS, Iuliu WINKLER, Alexander BERNHUBER, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Milan ZVER, Peter POLLÁK, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Željana ZOVKO, Christian EHLER, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Underlines the challenge of cyberthreats, cyberbullying, data and privacy protection, dangerous online games and disinformation in the digital environment; highlights that any development in the field of digital education must go hand-in-hand with a robust framework of data protection; warmly welcomes, therefore, the increased focus on digital and information literacy in the revised plan; looks forward to the swift adoption of the Media Action Plan and the guidelines for teachers and educational staff; calls on the Commission to be more ambitious and to launch large-scale digital literacy campaigns;

Amendment 182 #

Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Asim ADEMOV, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Andrea BOCSKOR

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Underlines the challenge of cyberthreats, cyberbullying, data and privacy protection, dangerous online games and disinformation in the digital environment; warmly welcomes, therefore, the increased focus on digital and information literacy in the revised plan; looks forward to the swift adoption of the Media Action Plan and the guidelines for teachers and educational staff; calls on the Commission to be more ambitious and to ~~launch~~work with local stakeholders, including media organisations. and work out tailored large-scale digital literacy campaigns suitable for local audiences;

Amendment 183 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Underlines the challenge of cyberthreats, cyberbullying, data and privacy protection, dangerous online games and disinformation in the digital environment; warmly welcomes, therefore, the increased focus on digital and information literacy through education and training in the revised plan; looks forward to the swift adoption of the Media Action Plan and the guidelines for teachers and educational staff; calls on the Commission to be more ambitious and to launch large-scale digital literacy campaigns;

Amendment 184 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Underlines the challenge of cyberthreats, cyberbullying, data and privacy protection, dangerous online games and disinformation and censorship in the digital environment; warmly welcomes, therefore, the increased focus on digital and information literacy in the revised plan; looks forward to the swift adoption of the Media Action Plan and the guidelines for teachers and educational staff; calls on the Commission to be more ambitious and to launch large-scale digital literacy campaigns;

Amendment 185 #

Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Asim ADEMOV, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a. Recalls that an important obstacle women face in participation in online activities and social networks is cyber violence and online harassment, which disproportionately affect girls and women; underlines that women and young girls also face hostility and prejudice throughout their participation in the ICT sector or digital education; notes that the Digital Education Action Plan should aim to provide skills and tools to girls, young women and men to help them to react to cyber violence, bullying, online harassment online and navigate disinformation; encourages the Member States to set strict codes of conduct and protocols for reporting all cases of harassement to the relevant authorities; stresses that the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence should be ratified and applied;

Amendment 186 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a. Underlines the need to recognise the legal and ethical principles related to intellectual property in the context of the increased creation and dissemination of educational digital content, as a result of the digital transformation in education and training caused by the pandemic; welcomes and endorses the Intellectual Property in Education network managed by the European Union Intellectual Property Office and encourages the development of Intellectual Property-related skills among children, youngsters and teachers, as well as the creation of up-to-date modern and engaging materials and programmes;

Amendment 187 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a. In light of the growing use of digital tools within educational curricula, calls on the Commission to address the specific nature of educational data and the risk posed by the lack of regulation on their exchange and storage; calls on the Commission to involve the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) in a reflection on the creation of a specific status for data relating to pupils and learners;

Amendment 188 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a. Recalls that lower educational attainment in general often equates to lower digital proficiency; supports, therefore, the recommendation in the reinforced Youth Guarantee that people not in education, employment or training undergo a digital skills assessment and receive training;

Amendment 189 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)

12 b. Warns that social and educational inequalities in early childhood have a negative impact on educational attainment and employment prospects in later life; reiterates the need for improving access to quality education and more efforts in developing digital and media skills at an early age; welcomes the announcement of the European Commission to introduce a European Child Guarantee in order to tackle child poverty; underlines that Member States should allocate at least 5 % of the European Social Fund (ESF+) resources under shared management to support activities under the European Child Guarantee and insists that a separate budget line under the ESF+ needs to be created for the European Child Guarantee, with an allocation of EUR 20 billion;

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas 43 % of Europeans lack basic digital skills, with significant disparities within and between the Member States and on the basis of socioeconomic status, age, income, education level and employment; whereas the Skills Agenda aims to ensure that 70 % of 16- to 74-year-olds have basic digital skills by 2025; whereas data shows a lack of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and in computing studies, that women are underrepresented in high-tech jobs, and a persistent gender pay gap;deleted

Amendment 190 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 c (new)

12 c. Stresses the importance of lifelong learning and the responsibility of the private and public sectors to train people in order to remain competitive and relevant on the market.

Amendment 191 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 d (new)

12 d. Stresses that the digitalisation of education systems should not lead, under any circumstance, to the current or future commercial exploitation of digital data of learners, particularly within formal education; stresses that the highest safeguards must apply to the digital data of underage students, including for research and teaching purposes;

Amendment 192 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 e (new)

12 e. Highlights the importance of green education and education about the environment and calls for the development of specially designed curricula across Europe taking into consideration the environmental impact of digital education;

Amendment 193 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 f (new)

12 f. Recognises the importance of in- classroom education and underlines that digital technologies should be integrated into education and training so that they enhance in-person learning;

Amendment 194 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 g (new)

12 g. Recalls the importance of in- classroom education and underlines that digital education is complementary;

Amendment 195 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 h (new)

12 h. Recalls the new working realities generated by the pandemic, such as telework, and encourages educational and training institutions to develop new educational methods and prepare learners and workers for this new working environment;

Amendment 196 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Underlines the need to enhance digital resources and tools at Union level to open up lifelong learning opportunities and to enable full and quality access to ~~university and post- university~~higher education courses and materials; calls on the Commission to create an Online European University ~~with~~serving as a platform for distance and online education ~~content~~ available across Europe;

Amendment 197 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Underlines the need to enhance tools at Union level to open up lifelong learning opportunities and to enable full and quality access to university and post- university courses and materials~~; calls on the Commission to create an Online European University with distance and online education content available across Europe~~ sourced, verified and validated by the competent administrations;

Amendment 198 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Underlines the need to enhance tools and mechanisms at Union level to open up lifelong learning opportunities for all and to enable full and quality access to university and post- university courses and materials; calls on the Commission to create an Online European University with distance and online education content available across Europe;

Amendment 199 #

Victor NEGRESCU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Underlines the need to enhance tools and mechanisms at Union level to open up lifelong learning opportunities for all and to enable full and quality access to university and post- university courses and materials; takes note of the development of a new digital education environment and market for higher education and calls on the Commission to create an Online European University ~~with~~networks containing distance and online education content and programmes available across Europe that will enhance access to this type of educational solutions and offers across the EU;

Amendment 2 #

Martina MICHELS, Pernando BARRENA ARZA, Alexis GEORGOULIS, Niyazi KIZILYÜREK

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas inclusive, quality education is the cornerstone of the green and digital transitions, because it both enhances participation in democratic life and the life of society and individual self- determination, and gives people the skills needed to assess technological developments and their implications for society, including the need for political regulation;

Amendment 20 #

Martina MICHELS, Pernando BARRENA ARZA, Alexis GEORGOULIS, Niyazi KIZILYÜREK

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas 432 % of Europeans ~~lack~~still lack even the basic digital skills, with significant disparities within and between the Member States and on the basis of socioeconomic status, age, income, education level and employment; whereas the Skills Agenda aims to ensure that 70 % of 16- to 74-year- olds have basic digital skills by 2025; whereas data shows a lack of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and in computing studies, that women are underrepresented in high-tech jobs, and a persistent gender pay gap, an average increase of 2 percentage points per year; whereas to date the percentage of people that have at least basic digital skills has increased by only 3 percentage points in four years, from 55% in 2015 to 58% 2019;

Amendment 200 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Underlines the need to enhance tools at Union level to open up lifelong learning opportunities and to enable full and quality access to university and post- university courses and materials; calls on the Commission to create an public Online European University with distance and online education content available across Europe and, in that connection, to take account of Europe's language diversity as regards access and communication;

Amendment 201 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Underlines the need to enhance tools at Union level to open up lifelong learning opportunities and to enable full and quality access to university and post- university courses and materials; calls on the Commission to create an Oonline ~~European University~~platform with distance and online education and diverse content available across Europe;

Amendment 202 #

Martina MICHELS, Pernando BARRENA ARZA, Alexis GEORGOULIS, Niyazi KIZILYÜREK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, as well as private actors to find more attractive and creative ways to showcase female role models with successful careers in ICT and STEM, especially women leaders in digital and technology fields in order to motivate, inspire and encourage girls to pursue ICT and STEM studies, break existing stereotypes and boost women's self- confidence in their digital skills; emphasises that new and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, robotics, virtual and augmented reality offer exciting new prospects that intrigue young women and encourage them to participate in the development and implementation of these technologies;

Amendment 203 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a. Calls on the Commission to encourage Member States to earmark funding for the acquisition of professional and secure digital educational resources hosted and stored in Europe, co-created in cooperation with professionals and experts in the production of educational material;

Amendment 204 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13a. Emphasises that the special emphasis on encouraging girls and women to study MINT subjects at school and university and as part of their professional training and further training must also cover the related digital skills, from programming to networked application;

Amendment 205 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a. Highlights the importance of cultural institutions as key providers of digital resources and the need to address issues ensuring the quality, reusability and interoperability of those resources;

Amendment 206 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Alexander BERNHUBER, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Milan ZVER, Peter POLLÁK, Željana ZOVKO, Christian EHLER, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Loucas FOURLAS, Iuliu WINKLER, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a. Supports dual education in VET, lifelong learning and adult learning with a view to a better adaptation to labour market developments and preventing social isolation;

Amendment 207 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)

13 b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to put more efforts in promoting digital competences among girls, to encourage them to invest in digital skills and choose ICT and STEM career paths; stresses the need for awareness raising to confront discrimination and prejudice against women and the need to promote policies that contribute to the creation of an inclusive environment in order to maintain the highest possible number of women within the system, once engaged; calls for a bottom up approach and an inclusive dialogue with the relevant stakeholders, such as private companies, non-governmental organisations, state institutions, policy-makers and civil society, with a view to equipping girls with digital skills, providing inspirational role to strengthening gender equality and ensuring the protection of women and girls’ human rights to education, work and a decent livelihood; calls for information on best practice examples and success models to be collected and shared between Member States to ensure educators are aware of the digital education gender gap and its causes and to incorporate such practices and recommendations into national education and labour market policies by including targeted measures in national action plans;

Amendment 208 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Recalls that special attention should be paid to digital proficiency and accessibility to digital education as well as quality and, where applicable, tailored educational content for lower- skilled adults, persons with disabilities, persons from vulnerable groups and older people; points out that in 2018, just 4.3 % of low- skilled adults used any form of adult learning;

Amendment 209 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Recalls that special attention should be paid to digital proficiency for lower- skilled adults, persons with disabilities, persons from vulnerable groups and older people; points out that in 2018, just 4.3 % of low-skilled adults used any form of adult learning; notes the potential of the ESF+ programme for lifelong learning;

Amendment 21 #

Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas 43 % of Europeans lack basic digital skills, with significant disparities within and between the Member States and on the basis of socioeconomic status, age, income, education level and employment; whereas the Skills Agenda aims to ensure that 70 % of 16- to 74-year- olds have basic digital skills by 2025; whereas data shows a lack of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and in computing studies, and that ~~women are underrepresented in high-tech jobs, and a persistent gender pay gap~~their participation in these areas of knowledge or skills can be encouraged and motivated, making it easier for them to achieve their freely chosen goals and objectives;

Amendment 210 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Recalls that special attention should be paid to digital proficiency for lower- skilled adults, persons with disabilities, persons from vulnerable or marginalised groups and older people; points out that in 2018, just 4.3 % of low-skilled adults used any form of adult learning;

Amendment 211 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)

14 a. Urges the Commission and Member States to identify and invest in special features for digital education designed and adapted for people with disabilities; considers that digital education offers great opportunities for students with learning difficulties as it allows for tailored pedagogical approaches to their diverse abilities; calls for more investments to ensure the support that these groups have too often been lacking;

Amendment 212 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)

14 a. Encourages various private educational initiatives to support girls undertaking digital studies and promote women in digital careers and the digital economy though viral stories on social media, professional European networks organised by women for women and tech company inititives; stresses the importance of the Commission's "Women in Digital" Task force and the "Digital4Her" initiative;

Amendment 213 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)

14 a. Recalls that apart from digital proficiency courses, special focus should be given to awareness raising and training on how to detect fake news, disinformation and deep fake due to their detrimental effect on democratic principles and the functioning of our society;

Amendment 214 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

14 b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to take into account the situation of women and girls with disabilities and women and girls in outermost regions or rural areas and to ensure their full access to and inclusion in digital education in order to avoid a widening of the digital divide;

Amendment 215 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Deplores, therefore, the continued absence of measures targeting lower- skilled adult learners and older people; stresses that this omission undermines the essential lifelong learning dimension of digital education and hampers efforts to ensure that everyone has essential life skills; calls on the Commission, therefore, to work with regional and local authorities to put further measures in place, to incentivise adult education by making it available and accessible, so as to ensure that these population groups can truly benefit from the digital transition;

Amendment 216 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Deplores, therefore, the continued absence of measures targeting lower- skilled adult learners and older people; stresses that this omission undermines the essential lifelong learning dimension of digital education and hampers efforts to ensure that everyone has essential life skills; calls on the Commission, therefore, to work with regional and local authorities to put further measures in place, to ~~ensure~~incentivise adult education by making it available and accessible, so that these population groups can truly benefit from the digital transition;

Amendment 217 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Deplores, therefore, the ~~continued~~ absence of measures targeting lower- skilled adult learners and older people in the Digital Education Action Plan; stresses that this omission undermines the essential lifelong learning dimension of digital education and hampers efforts to ensure that everyone has essential life skills; calls on the Commission, therefore, to work with regional and local authorities to put further measures in place to ensure that these population groups can truly benefit from the digital transition;

Amendment 218 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Deplores, therefore, the continued absence of measures ~~targeting~~for lower- skilled adult learners and older people; stresses that this omission undermines the essential lifelong learning dimension of digital education and hampers efforts to ensure that everyone has essential life skills; calls on the Commission, therefore, to work with regional and local authorities to put further measures in place to ensure that these population groups can truly benefit from and help shape the digital transition;

Amendment 219 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Calls on the Member States to take into account ongoing concerns about the risk COVID-19 spreading further, to ensure the highest level of health protection measures for teachers and trainers, to prioritise digital skills training initiatives to address the issue of the lack of equipment by providing economic and /or material incentives for vulnerable students and students with socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, such as girls in rural areas to adapt adequately to the current situation , and to develop tools in order to ensure full access to and the smooth functioning of digital education; stresses that women undertake the majority of unpaid household chores and care work at home,share that has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and stresses that as a result, women are less likely to spend sufficient time using digital tools and participating in digital education; recommends that the efforts to boost women’s participation and gender equality in the labour market and education are strengthened by promoting the equal sharing of care and household responsibilities between women and men and by supporting the equal take-up of parental and carers’ leave by women and men; calls on the Commission to incorporate into its digital education policy flexible learning methods, specifically designed for women carers and others who are unable to attend classes but are able to participate in distance learning;

Amendment 22 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas 43 % of Europeans lack basic digital skills, with significant disparities within and between the Member States and on the basis of socioeconomic status, age, income, education level and employment; whereas the Skills Agenda aims to ensure that 70 % of 16- to 74-year- olds have basic digital skills by 2025; whereas data shows ~~a lack of~~fewer women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and in computing studies, that women are ~~under~~less well represented in high-tech jobs, and a ~~persistent~~ gender pay gap;

Amendment 220 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Highlights that a rights-based approach to digital education is necessary to ensure that policies are aimed at the making of the right to education a reality; stresses that successful digital education can be achieved only through inclusive digital education.

Amendment 221 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Stresses that in order to promote inclusion and active citizenship, promotion of digital skills learning should be focused on all demographics, not only those in the working age;

Amendment 222 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15 b. Stresses that an effective digital education policy is an inclusive digital policy that should tackle the digital dimension of citizenship education, inclusion being the most important enabling factor for digital education to successfully contribute to democracy; regrets the limited ambitions of the new Digital Education Action Plan with regard to the promotion of digital citizenship;

Amendment 223 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15 b. Requests the collection of nuanced gender statistics to evaluate policy outcomes and the collection of data disaggregated by gender and age to get a better picture of the digital gender divide; welcomes in that regard the decision to focus EIGE’s Gender Equality Index for 2020 on work in a digital world;

Amendment 224 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)

15 c. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to work closely with civil society, teachers, pupils, students and parents' organisations, for instance as part of a structured dialogue and with respect to the design and implementation of national digital education policies to ensure that the policies meet the needs citizens needs and put learners at the centre.

Amendment 225 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)

15 c. Notes that the Member States have a key role to play in ensuring the provision of public education in ways which enhance gender equality, provide the required digital skills for all and combat gender stereotypes for girls and boys, in particular in the area of ICT;

Amendment 226 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)

15 d. Underlines the need for the European Union to act as a global reference in terms of quality digital education and calls on the Commission to work closely with relevant global and regional institutions and stakeholders to boost access to quality digital education across the world.

Amendment 227 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)

15 d. Stresses that gender budgeting and mainstreaming must be part of any policy, including digital education policies;

Amendment 228 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Predrag Fred MATIĆ, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 e (new)

15 e. Underlines the existing gender gaps and calls on Member States to encourage gender rebalancing in STEM or STEAM curricula;

Amendment 229 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 f (new)

15 f. Calls on the Commission to thoroughly address the issue of a lack of women participating in ICT studies and careers within the digital sector, with a special focus on the Digital Education Action Plan; calls on educational entities to encourage girls to take up mathematics, coding, ICT classes and science subjects in schools;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)

C a. whereas the average percentages of females working in AI and cybersecurity, worldwide, are 12% and 20%, respectively, despite the fact that the demand for labour in these two domains has increased drastically over the years; whereas the low numbers of women working in innovative technologies can have a significant impact on the design, development and implementation of these technologies, leading to the perpetuation of existing discriminatory practices and stereotypes and the development of gender biased algorithms; whereas realising the full potential of women’s digital skills can contribute significantly to boosting the European economy, especially given that there are around one million vacancies in Europe for digital experts, that 70% of companies are delaying investments because they can not find the people with the right digital skills3a and that in some job categories, more than 90% of jobs require specific types of digital skills4a; _________________ 3aCommission report of 17 June 2020 on the impact of demographic change. 4aCommission communication of 1 July 2020 entitled "European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience" COM(2020)0- 274.

Amendment 24 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)

C a. Whereas digital literacy must be addressed in a multidimensional approach, covering technical skills, digital literacy, disseminated content and access to digital infrastructure;

Amendment 25 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)

C a. whereas digital skills should increasingly be seen not only within the context of the labour market, but also for active participation in society and democratic processes;

Amendment 26 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas digital technologies harbour substantial potential for teachers and learners across education sectors and settings; whereas, however, teachers' freedom of teaching should remain at the heart of the educational process and whereas face-to-face teaching can never be replaced in quality by e-learning; whereas it is necessary to limit the time learners spend in front of a screen;

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas embracing digital technologies harbours substantial potential for teachers and learners across education sectors and settings;

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas digital technologies harbour substantial potential ~~for teache~~challenges and opportunities for teachers, educators and learners across education sectors and settings;

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)

D a. whereas there is still a lack of interest among girls in pursuing ICT and STEM tertiary studies, which is leading to a loss of social and economic opportunities, and is preventing potential reduction in gender inequality and the gender pay gap; whereas girls become interested in STEM subjects around the age of 11 and lose interest at 15; whereas 73 % of boys aged 15 to 16 feel comfortable using digital devices that they are less familiar with, compared with 63 % of girls in the same age bracket;

Amendment 3 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Loucas FOURLAS, Iuliu WINKLER, Peter POLLÁK, Sabine VERHEYEN, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Milan ZVER, Christian EHLER, Željana ZOVKO, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Alexander BERNHUBER

A. whereas inclusive, quality education is the cornerstone of the green and digital transitions; whereas education is an investment in our common future, positively impacting social cohesion as a pre-condition for economic growth, job creation and employment;

Amendment 30 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Christian EHLER, Milan ZVER, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Željana ZOVKO, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Iuliu WINKLER, Peter POLLÁK, Loucas FOURLAS, Alexander BERNHUBER, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA

Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)

D a. whereas digital tools can help the process of learning, but must remain complementary to the physical presence of educators as well as their expertise and judgement; whereas digital technology certainly cannot substitute the role of the teacher;

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)

D a. whereas record investments in learning technology companies in recent years has enhanced various e-learning solutions;

Amendment 32 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)

D b. whereas attitudes towards STEM subjects do not differ between boys and girls during primary education, but cultural discouragement and a lack of awareness of female role models hinder and negatively affect girls' and women’s self-confidence and opportunities to pursue STEM and ICT studies, related careers and digital entrepreneurship, and lead to discrimination and fewer opportunities for women in the labour market, especially in future oriented sectors, which offer higher quality and better paid jobs;

Amendment 33 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas access to high-quality digital infrastructure, resources, content and equipment that is adapted to educational needs is a prerequisite for digital learning; whereas the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden digital transition ~~in education have laid bare the gaps in access across the Union~~to distance or on online education have exposed the digital divide within and between the Member States;

Amendment 34 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas access to high-quality digital infrastructure and equipment that is adapted to educational needs is a prerequisite for digital learning; whereas the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden digital transition in education have laid bare the gaps in access across the Union, affecting unequally the different levels of education and the different countries of the Union;

Amendment 35 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Christian EHLER, Milan ZVER, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Željana ZOVKO, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Alexander BERNHUBER, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Iuliu WINKLER, Peter POLLÁK, Loucas FOURLAS

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas access to high-quality digital infrastructure and equipment and high-speed internet that is adapted to educational needs is a prerequisite for digital learning; whereas the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden digital transition in education have laid bare the gaps in access across the Union;

Amendment 36 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

E a. whereas women have lower confidence in their own digital skills, despite digital skills being needed in life and at work, especially now that COVID-19 lockdowns are forcing everyone to rely on an internet connection to work, study or buy food;

Amendment 37 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the sudden shift to online and distance ~~learning~~ also revealed ~~alarm~~both the innovation potential and the existing gaps in the digital skills of teachers, parents and learners and in their ability to use digital technologies effectively;whereas digital inclusion goes hand-in-hand with social inclusion; whereas teachers have shown that they are capable of adapting to profound changes within education systems if they are empowered by sufficient means of flexibility and autonomy;

Amendment 38 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the sudden shift to online and distance learning and, in most parts of Europe, to remote emergency education exposed the fact that education systems were generally ill-prepared for this transition; whereas this shift also revealed alarming gaps in the digital skills of teachers, parents and learners and often in their ability to use digital technologies effectively;

Amendment 39 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the sudden shift to online and distance learning also revealed alarming gaps in the digital skills of teachers, educators, parents and learners and in their ability to use digital technologies effectively;

Amendment 4 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas inclusive, equitable and adequately funded quality education is the cornerstone ~~of the green and digital transitions~~for individual and societal growth, helping also to accelerate green and digital transitions and promotes sustainable economic development;

Amendment 40 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the sudden shift to online and distance learning also revealed alarming gaps in the digital skills of teachers, parents and learners and in their ability to use digital technologies effectively and safely;

Amendment 41 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)

F a. whereas, going forward, digital technologies should be integrated into education and training so that they enhance in-person learning;

Amendment 42 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas the shift to online and, more importantly, distance learning has exacerbated existing inequalities, leaving disadvantaged and vulnerable learners and often learners with disabilities further behind, in certain scenarios increasing drop- out rates across education sectors, and revealing an absence of pastoral and social support in the digital environment; whereas there is an urgent need to improve the quality of online education to improve inclusivity and engagement; whereas advanced quality digital education solutions already exist and need to be further embraced;

Amendment 43 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Željana ZOVKO, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Alexander BERNHUBER, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Iuliu WINKLER, Peter POLLÁK, Loucas FOURLAS, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Milan ZVER, Christian EHLER

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas the shift to online and distance learning has exacerbated existing inequalities, leaving disadvantaged and vulnerable learners and learners with disabilities and with special educational needs further behind, increasing drop- out rates across education sectors, and revealing an absence of pastoral and social support in the digital environment; whereas special attention should also be paid to children with special educational needs who have a learning problem or disability that make it more difficult for them to learn remotely than for most children of their age;

Amendment 44 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas the shift to online and distance learning has exacerbated existing inequalities, leaving disadvantaged and vulnerable learners and learners with disabilities further behind, increasing drop- out rates across education sectors, and revealing an absence of pastoral and social support in the digital environment; whereas digital technologies should not be considered as a cost-saving tool which could lead to the increase of educational inequalities;

Amendment 45 #

Martina MICHELS, Pernando BARRENA ARZA, Alexis GEORGOULIS, Niyazi KIZILYÜREK

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas the shift to online and distance learning has exacerbated existing inequalities, leaving disadvantaged and vulnerable learners and learners with disabilities further behind, increasing drop- out rates across education sectors, and revealing an absence of ~~pastoral and social support~~support for socially disadvantaged or linguistically less able students in the digital environment;

Amendment 46 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)

G a. whereas emphasis should be placed on the factors that motivate and help girls to become interested in STEM studies, related careers and digital entrepreneurship such as promoting female role models, having the support of teacher mentors, gaining peer group approval and developing creativity and practical experience;

Amendment 47 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)

G a. whereas in-person learning is important to develop tools that can help the development of transversal skills, especially in early childhood education;

Amendment 48 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)

G a. whereas museums, libraries and archives are important and relevant non- formal education settings that work in close collaboration with schools and universities;

Amendment 49 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic will herald profound changes and may well not be the last pandemic; whereas it would be unforgivable not to be properly prepared to deliver full-scale quality digital education for all in ~~the event of a potential second wave~~case of a new school and university lockdown; whereas that digital education plays a crucial role in tackling educational challenges in new major crises that may arise again in the future and that it will help the educational system be resilient in the longer- term,should such crises happen again;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas inclusive, quality education is the cornerstone of fair societies and the green and digital transitions, as well as of the fundamental pillars of society, being one of the bases for equal opportunities;

Amendment 50 #

Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Asim ADEMOV, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Andrea BOCSKOR

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the consequences of the measures taken to address the propagandised COVID-19 pandemic will herald profound changes and may well not be the last propagandised pandemic; whereas it would be unforgivable not to be properly prepared to deliver full-scale quality digital education for all in the event of a potential ~~second wave~~future pandemic;

Amendment 51 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

Amendment 52 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas ~~the~~ COVID-19 pandemic will herald profound changes and may well not be the last pandemic; whereas it would be unforgivable not to be properly prepared to deliver full-scale quality digital education for all in the event of a potential second wavehas increased the necessity to deliver full-scale quality digital education for all; whereas the EU has lagged behind in embracing and adopting the already existing digital solutions for education;

Amendment 53 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

Amendment 54 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic will herald profound changes ~~and may well not be the last pandemic~~for our way of life; whereas it would be unforgivable not to be properly prepared to deliver full- scale quality digital education for all ~~in the event of a potential second wave~~;

Amendment 55 #

Martina MICHELS, Pernando BARRENA ARZA, Alexis GEORGOULIS, Niyazi KIZILYÜREK

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

H a. whereas the spread of COVID 19, the disruption of education caused by the closure of schools and other education facilities, and forced social isolation and restrictions, on the one hand, sparked concerns about the impact of interruptions to education on vulnerable students, because of their socio- economically disadvantaged backgrounds or place of residence, such as girls in rural, remote and depopulated areas who face more barriers to enrolling in digital education and accessing good ICT infrastructure and services, including the internet and broadband and on the other hand, proved the clear need for efficient, well-functioning and inclusive digital education with increased investments in digital literacy skills and online education, as well as a need to speed up the process of raising awareness implementing new technologies;

Amendment 56 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

Ha. whereas the development and expansion of digital infrastructure in primary and secondary schools is in some cases still being planned and carried out in the complete absence of permanent IT network and support staff;

Amendment 57 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

H a. whereas teacher-student interaction is crucial to the well-being and development of students; whereas educational technologies should remain a support and not a replacement for the in- person education provided;

Amendment 58 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

H a. whereas mastering basic transversal skills, such as numeracy, critical thinking and social communication skills, is a fundamental prerequisite for the acquisition of digital skills and competences;

Amendment 59 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

H a. whereas basic skills, such as numeracy, critical thinking and social communication skills, are a fundamental prerequisite for the acquisition of digital skills and competences;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas ~~inclusive~~needs-driven, non- ideological, quality education is one of the cornerstones of the green, environmentally aware and digital transitions;

Amendment 60 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

H a. whereas the hybrid model of education combining in-person learning with distance and online learning will remain well after Covid-19 and offers a range of benefits;

Amendment 61 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

H a. whereas it is time to develop a Union digital education policy for the medium and longer term;

Amendment 62 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)

H b. whereas excessive use of technological and digital equipment, such as computers and tablets, can also have negative effects on health and well-being and can cause problems such as sleep deprivation, and a sedentary lifestyle, especially in early age, when the brain and body is still developing;

Amendment 63 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)

H b. whereas availability of quality online education is often not an alternative, but the only option for certain groups such as those working full-time or out of work in rural and remote regions or for disabled people;

Amendment 64 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)

H b. whereas excessive use of technological and digital equipment, such as computers and tablets, can cause problems related to health and well-being, including sleep deprivation, a sedentary lifestyle and addiction;

Amendment 65 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)

H b. whereas mastering basic transversal skills, such as numeracy, critical thinking and social communication skills, is a fundamental prerequisite for the acquisition of digital skills and competences;

Amendment 66 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)

H c. whereas basic education in cyber hygiene, cyber safety, data protection and media literacy must be age- and development- oriented in order to help children become critical learners, active citizens, internet users and make informed decisions, and be aware of the risks associated with the internet, such as online disinformation, harassment and personal data breaches;

Amendment 67 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)

H c. whereas digital technologies must be introduced in a learner-focused, age- appropriate and development-oriented way; whereas it is vital to maintain personal contact between students and teachers and to prioritise the well-being and healthy development of children and adult learners;

Amendment 68 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)

H c. whereas digital learning strategies also need to take into account research on the effects that early use of digital technology may have on the development of young children;

Amendment 69 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H d (new)

H d. whereas digital technologies should be introduced in a learner- focused, age-appropriate and development-oriented way; whereas it is beneficial to maintain personal contact between students and teachers and to value the well-being and healthy development of children and adult learners;

Amendment 7 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Milan ZVER, Christian EHLER, Željana ZOVKO, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Alexander BERNHUBER, Iuliu WINKLER, Peter POLLÁK, Loucas FOURLAS

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

A a. whereas the content of teaching and the organisation of education systems is a national competence and must remain so; whereas however, new challenges require the mobilisation of European tools and supporting policies within the European Education Area;

Amendment 70 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H e (new)

H e. whereas 10% of households in rural areas of the EU do not have access to fixed-line internet and a further 41% are not covered by broadband;

Amendment 71 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H f (new)

H f. whereas older people are vulnerable to digital exclusion; whereas only 35% of persons aged 55-74 possess basic digital skills;

Amendment 72 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Recital H g (new)

H g. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for teachers and trainers at all levels, including in Vocational Education and Training (VET); whereas prior to the crisis only 39% of teachers in the EU felt well or very well prepared to use digital technologies for teaching, with significant differences between Member States;

Amendment 73 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H h (new)

H h. whereas basic education in cyber hygiene, cyber safety, data protection and media literacy must be appropriate to the age and oriented to the development of learners in order to help children become critical learners, active citizens, internet users and shapers of a democratic digital society, make informed decisions, and be aware of and able to counter the risks associated with the internet, such as online disinformation, harassment and personal data breaches; whereas cybersecurity-related teaching programmes should be introduced in academic and vocational training curricula;

Amendment 74 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Predrag Fred MATIĆ, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Recital H i (new)

H i. whereas a significant gender gap in digital skills still persists and is expected to widen; whereas only 17% of tech sector jobs are held by women despite a share of 54% female students in tertiary education; whereas, according to Eurostat only one in three STEM graduates is a woman; whereas efforts to tackle gender bias and inequality in the digital sector are insufficient; whereas the gender gap is particularly evident in the AI sector, where only 22% of AI professionals globally are female, thereby limiting the trajectory for the digital sector in the foreseeable future;

Amendment 75 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H j (new)

H j. whereas 43 % of Europeans lack basic digital skills, with significant disparities within and between Member States and based on socioeconomic status, age, gender, income, level of education and employment; whereas the Skills Agenda aims to ensure that 70 per cent of 16- to 74-year-olds have basic digital skills by 2025; whereas the European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens acknowledges the importance of soft skills, including communication, collaboration, digital content and creation; whereas these skills are key components of humanities, arts and social sciences studies; whereas an interdisciplinary approach to the study of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) can lead to a better design of human-centric digital solutions;

Amendment 76 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Predrag Fred MATIĆ, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Recital H k (new)

H k. whereas data shows persisting gender inequalities in the whole digital sector whereas gender stereotypes influence subject choices (less than 3 % of teenage girls express an interest in working as an ICT professional) which in turn influence the lack of women in the ICT and STEM professions, whereas women are underrepresented in high-tech jobs and a there is persistent digital gender pay gap, whereas high-tech jobs are the jobs of the future, the driving force of innovation, social welfare and sustainable development;

Amendment 77 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the updated Digital Education Action Plan as a further step towards a more comprehensive digital skills and education strategy; believes that the plan will have been a success if, by its completion, digital education ~~is considered a significant~~truly becomes a part of education policy and has delivered clear, consistent and positive results in terms of access, equity and quality across the Union; acknowledges the different starting points of Member States and urges against one-size-fits-all strategies;

Amendment 78 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the updated Digital Education Action Plan as a further step towards a more comprehensive digital skills and education strategy; believes that the plan will have been a success if, by its completion, digital education is considered a significant part of education policy and has delivered clear, consistent and positive results in terms of availability, access and quality across the Union;

Amendment 79 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the updated Digital Education Action Plan as a further step towards a more comprehensive digital skills and education strategy; believes that the plan will have been a success if, by its completion, digital education is considered a significant part of education policy and has delivered clear, consistent and positive results in terms of availability, access and quality across the Union;

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

A a. whereas in the digital era education systems need to conform to the needs of learners and not the other way around: whereas learners must not end up as passive technology consumers but be actively in charge of their technologies;

Amendment 80 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States when developing digital education policies to ensure that they address the digital gender gap, which is an economic, societal and cultural issue, that slows down the growth of the EU economy, with multi-level and holistic policies and to ensure that all students have the skills needed to carry out the tasks and roles of future jobs in the changing labour market and have equal opportunities that enable them to tackle future challenges relating to global competitiveness and the digital economy by promoting a human centred approach to technology that respects fundamental values and gender equality; calls on the Commission to incorporate an institutional horizontal strategy in its Digital Education Action Plan to combat gender inequality; draws attention to the fact that the insufficient use of human capital associated with gender inequalities has a negative impact on research and innovation-related business and overall economic development, and also has harmful social consequences;

Amendment 81 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Welcomes the rights-based approach to education, anchored in the Pillar of Social Rights, as a guiding principle of the Digital Education Action Plan; recalls that guaranteeing accessible, inclusive and quality education for all is necessary to enforce the right to education as a fundamental human right;

Amendment 82 #

Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Asim ADEMOV, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Andrea BOCSKOR

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Stresses that while it is essential to increase learners’ basic and advanced digital skills, traditional and humanistic skills should nevertheless continue to be nurtured;

Amendment 83 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Commends the decision to align the plan with the multiannual financial framework (MFF), as this allows for a longer-term perspective and ties it in with the relevant funding instruments; underlines the importance of the plan in delivering the European Education Area; welcomes in particular the ambition of the Commission to establish a Strategic Dialogue with the Member States on key enabling factors for successful digital education;

Amendment 84 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Commends the decision to align the plan with the multiannual financial framework (MFF), as this allows for a longer-term perspective and ties it in with the relevant funding instruments; underlines the importance of the plan in ~~delivering th~~striving to contribute towards the creation of a genuine European Education Area;

Amendment 85 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop high quality, inclusive and non-discriminatory digital education which will ensure that the digital society includes everyone and is a pre-requisite for a successful digital transformation and the them full implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe, which will leave no-one behind, will benefit everyone all and will contribute to gender equality; stresses that increasing number of young girls and women embarking on a digital education and entering the ICT labour market by employing more people with a wider skills and talent greatly contributes to the formation of an all-inclusive society, to the building of a more sustainable and inclusive economy through scientific, digital and technological innovation and to the closing of the gender pay gap; welcomes the Gender Equality Strategy’s focus on gender equality in the digital transition, in particular the updated Digital Education Action Plan, updated Skills Agenda for Europe and the Council recommendation on vocational education and training; underlines the need for gender mainstreaming across all EU policies regarding education, skills and digitalisation; welcomes the Commission’s Women in Digital Scoreboard which will monitor women’s participation in the digital economy; encourages the Member States to add computer science education to their national curricula and implement changes that will make digital education appealing to girls as well as boys from an early age; stresses that digital education must be planned and created to allow boys and girls to express their interests and skills in the digital sphere and encourage their creativity and innovation; encourages a more social approach to ICT and STEM education to underline the social impact of these careers through, for example, including introductory social science courses in each technical subject as part of digital education;

Amendment 86 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Sabine VERHEYEN, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Milan ZVER, Christian EHLER, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Iuliu WINKLER, Peter POLLÁK, Loucas FOURLAS, Alexander BERNHUBER, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Željana ZOVKO, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Notes, that the new DEAP is now extending the scope of action and sets specific targets to address persistent gaps, for example in digital skills, the promotion of quality computer and information technology education, support for better connectivity in schools, online learning content and tools, and digital literacy of schools and higher education institutions;

Amendment 87 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Underlines the importance of the European Education Area in delivering the Action Plan, which will ensure transparency and accountability in its implementation;

Amendment 88 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Peter POLLÁK, Loucas FOURLAS, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Milan ZVER, Christian EHLER, Alexander BERNHUBER, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Željana ZOVKO, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Iuliu WINKLER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Notes, however, that delivering the plan effectively depends on coordination across a broad range of programmes; calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure effective synergies between these programmes; emphasises the need to learn from the Covid-19 crisis by applying the good practices (peer learning) of some countries in terms of using digital tools for education;

Amendment 89 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Notes, however, that delivering the plan effectively depends on coordination across a broad range of programmes and between the Member States; calls on the Commission to ensure effective synergies between these programmes and to avoid overlap between the different national and European policies in this area;

Amendment 9 #

Victor NEGRESCU, Marcos ROS SEMPERE, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Petra KAMMEREVERT

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

A a. whereas equality between women and men is a core value of the EU enshrined in Articles 8 and 19 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

Amendment 90 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Notes, however, that delivering the plan effectively depends on coordination across a broad range of programmes and policies, including Erasmus+, the European Social Fund Plus and the Connecting Europe Facility; calls on the Commission to ensure effective synergies between these programmes and policies;

Amendment 91 #

Radka MAXOVÁ, Laurence FARRENG, Monica SEMEDO, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Notes, however, that delivering the plan effectively depends on coordination across a broad range of programmes; calls on the Commission to ensure effective synergies between these programmes, while respecting the limits of subsidiarity in this regard;

Amendment 92 #

Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Asim ADEMOV, Sabine VERHEYEN, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Notes, however, that delivering the plan effectively also depends on coordination across a broad range of programmes; calls on the Commission to ensure effective synergies between these programmes;

Amendment 93 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Calls on the Commission to develop and ensure amore coherent, effective and efficient coordination on all relevant digital education policies at the EU level with a view reducing fragmentation and increasing impact; calls on the Commission to develop a comprehensive monitoring system for all digital education policies which should be used to share good practice across the EU and feed into the mid-term review of the Action Plan by 2024;

Amendment 94 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Points to the importance of the ‘Connect’ and ‘Reskill and upskill’ ~~flagship~~ investment priorities in the Recovery and Resilience Facility for driving the digital education agenda; calls for at least 10 % of the facility’s funding to be allocated to education and encourages the Member States to increase their education funding, bearing in mind that education directly contributes to strengthening the growth potential, job creation and economic and social resilience of the Member States; calls on Member States to increase their allocations for education to 10% of their GDP;

Amendment 95 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Points to the importance of the ‘Connect’ and ‘Reskill and upskill’ flagship investment priorities in the Recovery and Resilience Facility for driving the digital education agenda; calls for ~~10 % of the facility’s funding to be allocated to education and encourages the~~relevant Member States to increase their digital education funding;

Amendment 96 #

Laurence FARRENG, Ilana CICUREL, Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ, Radka MAXOVÁ, Monica SEMEDO, Irena JOVEVA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Points to the importance of the ‘Connect’ and ‘Reskill and upskill’ flagship investment priorities in the Recovery and Resilience Facility for driving the digital education agenda; calls for ~~10 %~~a significant share of the facility’s funding to be allocated to education and encourages the Member States to increase their education funding;

Amendment 97 #

Andrea BOCSKOR, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Milan ZVER, Christian EHLER, Alexander BERNHUBER, Theodoros ZAGORAKIS, Željana ZOVKO, Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN, Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA, Iuliu WINKLER, Sabine VERHEYEN, Peter POLLÁK, Loucas FOURLAS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Encourages Member States to make use of the Recovery Package to invest in digital equipment for schools and for pupils in the EU, notably in excluded areas as no child should be left behind;

Amendment 98 #

Isabella ADINOLFI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Underlines the value of pilot projects and preparatory actions initiated by Parliament in ensuring more Union- wide cooperation to tackle the educational gaps between Member States, regions and rural and urban areas; calls for their mainstreaming into programmes; recalls, in this regard, the pilot project, and the following preparatory action, “Media literacy for all’, which has aimed to boost media literacy in Europe through pursuing innovation and collaboration across media literacy communities within the EU, including by building on and scaling up existing solutions; welcomes that a new 'Media literacy' programme will be launched under the 'Creative Europe' - 'Media' programme for the period 2021-27; calls, however, for a budget that is adequate for setting up programmes and projects aimed at proposing tools and activities that should directly or indirectly benefit the target group of citizens of all ages lacking media literacy skills, and in particular the skills needed to critically evaluate content accessed via social media;

Amendment 99 #