BETA


2021/2209(INI) Towards an EU strategy to promote education for children in the world: mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead AFET LEGA David (icon: EPP EPP) VOLLATH Bettina (icon: S&D S&D), AUŠTREVIČIUS Petras (icon: Renew Renew), SATOURI Mounir (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), MATIAS Marisa (icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL)
Committee Opinion DEVE HÖLVÉNYI György (icon: EPP EPP) Charles GOERENS (icon: RE RE), Michèle RIVASI (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), Gianna GANCIA (icon: ID ID), Pierfrancesco MAJORINO (icon: S&D S&D)
Committee Opinion CULT VERHEYEN Sabine (icon: EPP EPP) Massimiliano SMERIGLIO (icon: S&D S&D), Pernando BARRENA ARZA (icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL), Diana RIBA I GINER (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), Gianantonio DA RE (icon: ID ID), Andrey SLABAKOV (icon: ECR ECR), Ilana CICUREL (icon: RE RE)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54, RoP 57

Events

2022/05/03
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 568 votes to 21, with 43 abstentions, a resolution on ‘Towards an EU strategy to promote education for children in the world: mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic’.

According to Unicef, more than 168 million children have lost a full year of education because of school closures due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. Education has been significantly disrupted for 800 million students worldwide, who have lost an average of two-thirds of a school year. Since March 2020, some 194 countries have been forced to close schools across their territory due to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting more than 1.8 billion learners worldwide and depriving them of access to education and other benefits offered by school.

While praising the work of teachers, educators and support staff who have adapted quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic, Members urged the Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and Member States to promote a child rights-based approach in global efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's access to education, and on the principles of non-discrimination, best interests of the child and child participation.

Recognising that education is a cross-cutting issue that affects all aspects of sustainable development, Parliament insisted that the EU should lead the way as an educational power and urged the Commission to define a strategy with a clear description and objectives in this respect.

The resolution stressed the importance of ensuring children's right to education and giving every child the chance to return to school. In particular, it called on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to:

- support the authorities of third countries in prioritising school reopening in their recovery plans;

- support third-country authorities in ensuring that all children can enjoy their right to primary education and to take action to ensure that secondary education is available and accessible;

- support third-country authorities in developing and implementing digital teaching and learning methods and to facilitate internet access for all;

- work with their transatlantic allies and international partners to boost the global supply of COVID-19 vaccine, ensuring equitable distribution to the countries and populations that need it most, and enable children to rapid return to school;

- support the authorities of third countries in financing and implementing ‘safe school’ operations, including providing hygiene supplies and sharing information on handwashing and other hygiene measures, as well as on maintaining the continuity of nutrition services for school-age children and adolescents;

- support the authorities of third countries in establishing education risk mitigation and management plans through resilience planning;

- support the authorities of third countries in proactively issuing guidance on best practices in remote learning, and in ensuring that appropriate and safe tools, curricula and technology are used and are made accessible to children from low-income families, rural, indigenous and migrant children, marginalised children and children with disabilities or learning difficulties;

- maintain robust funding for education through all EU financial instruments available;

- assist authorities in third countries to ensure appropriate care for children, including by putting in place a contingency plan for the care of children who are orphaned or who are no longer adequately cared for due to severe cases of COVID-19;

- support the governments of third countries in building and further developing stronger gender-responsive and inclusive education systems accompanied by the eradication of all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls;

- allocate the necessary funds within the framework of the EU humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to enable international and local organisations to facilitate the reopening of educational institutions for girls and women;

- develop specific programmes to manage and mitigate the mental health and psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on children, teachers and their communities;

- support the authorities of partner countries in addressing the challenges in their education systems with the aim of making them capable of withstanding future crises, and making systems more resilient and inclusive.

Parliament urged countries around the world to consider education as an investment rather than an expense. Members believe that adequate and effective financial assistance for education is a prerequisite to eliminate poverty and enhance well-being. They called on the Commission and Member States to substantially increase funding for education in their international development and assistance strategies.

Members stressed the role of non-formal and informal education, citizenship education and volunteering. They stressed the importance of continuing professional development and increased financial support for teachers. They called for environmental education to become an essential component of the school curriculum.

Lastly, Parliament called for an acceleration of global knowledge exchange and increased mobility at all levels of education.

Documents
2022/05/02
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2022/03/22
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details

The Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted an own-initiative report by David LEGA (EPP, SE) on ‘Towards an EU strategy to promote education for children in the world: mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic’.

According to Unicef, more than 168 million children have lost a full year of education because of school closures due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. Education has been significantly disrupted for 800 million students worldwide, who have lost an average of two-thirds of a school year. Since March 2020, some 194 countries have been forced to close schools across their territory due to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting more than 1.8 billion learners worldwide and depriving them of access to education and other benefits offered by school.

Members urged the Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and Member States to promote a child rights-based approach in global efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's access to education, and on the principles of non-discrimination, best interests of the child and child participation.

Recognising that education is a cross-cutting issue that affects all aspects of sustainable development, the report stressed the importance of ensuring children's right to education and giving every child the chance to return to school. In particular, it called on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to:

- support the authorities of third countries in prioritising school reopening in their recovery plans ;

- support third-country authorities in ensuring that all children can enjoy their right to primary education and to take action to ensure that secondary education is available and accessible;

- support third-country authorities in developing and implementing digital teaching and learning methods and to facilitate internet access for all;

- support the authorities of third countries in financing and implementing ‘safe school’ operations, including providing hygiene supplies and sharing information on handwashing and other hygiene measures, as well as on maintaining the continuity of nutrition services for school-age children and adolescents;

- support the authorities of third countries in establishing education risk mitigation and management plans through resilience planning;

- support the authorities of third countries in proactively issuing guidance on best practices in remote learning , and in ensuring that appropriate and safe tools, curricula and technology are used and are made accessible to children from low-income families, rural, indigenous and migrant children, marginalised children and children with disabilities or learning difficulties;

- maintain robust funding for education through all EU financial instruments available;

- support the governments of third countries in building and further developing stronger gender-responsive and inclusive education systems accompanied by the eradication of all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls;

- preserve and further strengthen the achievements of the past 20 years in education for women and girls in Afghanistan ;

- develop specific programmes to manage and mitigate the mental health and psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on children, teachers and their communities;

- support the authorities of partner countries in addressing the challenges in their education systems with the aim of making them capable of withstanding future crises, and making systems more resilient and inclusive.

The report urged countries around the world to consider education as an investment rather than an expense . Members believe that adequate and effective financial assistance for education is a prerequisite to eliminate poverty and enhance well-being. They called on the Commission and Member States to substantially increase funding for education in their international development and assistance strategies.

Members stressed the role of non-formal and informal education, citizenship education and volunteering. They called for environmental education to become an essential component of the school curriculum. The report also urged the importance of accompanying investment in training and education with support for job creation to provide a better outlook for the next generation of young people in Africa and other developing regions.

Documents
2022/03/15
   EP - Vote in committee
2022/03/04
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2022/02/08
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2021/12/16
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2021/11/25
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2021/11/25
   EP - Referral to associated committees announced in Parliament
2021/10/29
   EP - HÖLVÉNYI György (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in DEVE
2021/10/28
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2021/07/13
   EP - VERHEYEN Sabine (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in CULT
2021/03/04
   EP - LEGA David (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in AFET

Documents

Votes

Une stratégie de l’Union visant à encourager l’éducation des enfants dans le monde - EU strategy to promote education for children in the world - Eine Strategie der EU zur Förderung der Bildung von Kindern auf der ganzen Welt - A9-0058/2022 - David Lega - Proposition de résolution (ensemble du texte) #

2022/05/03 Outcome: +: 568, 0: 43, -: 21
DE IT FR ES PL RO HU PT SE CZ BG NL AT EL BE IE FI LT SK DK LV HR CY LU SI EE MT
Total
89
68
67
54
44
26
19
19
20
18
15
25
18
18
20
13
14
10
12
13
8
12
6
6
6
7
5
icon: PPE PPE
157

Hungary PPE

1

Czechia PPE

2

Slovakia PPE

Abstain (1)

4

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Latvia PPE

2

Croatia PPE

Abstain (1)

4
2

Luxembourg PPE

2

Slovenia PPE

3

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1

Malta PPE

For (1)

1
icon: S&D S&D
132

Czechia S&D

For (1)

1

Netherlands S&D

4

Greece S&D

2

Lithuania S&D

2

Slovakia S&D

2

Latvia S&D

2

Cyprus S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Slovenia S&D

For (1)

1

Estonia S&D

2
icon: Renew Renew
95

Italy Renew

2

Poland Renew

1

Hungary Renew

2
3

Austria Renew

For (1)

1

Ireland Renew

2

Finland Renew

3

Lithuania Renew

1

Latvia Renew

For (1)

1

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Luxembourg Renew

2

Slovenia Renew

2

Estonia Renew

3
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
65

Spain Verts/ALE

3

Poland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Sweden Verts/ALE

2

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Lithuania Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
53

Germany ECR

1

Sweden ECR

For (1)

3

Bulgaria ECR

1

Netherlands ECR

4

Greece ECR

1

Belgium ECR

2

Lithuania ECR

1

Slovakia ECR

Abstain (1)

1

Latvia ECR

2

Croatia ECR

Against (1)

1
icon: The Left The Left
36

Sweden The Left

For (1)

1

Czechia The Left

1

Netherlands The Left

For (1)

1

Belgium The Left

For (1)

1

Finland The Left

For (1)

1

Denmark The Left

1

Cyprus The Left

2
icon: NI NI
35

France NI

2

Lithuania NI

1

Slovakia NI

Abstain (1)

1

Latvia NI

1

Croatia NI

Against (1)

2
icon: ID ID
59

Czechia ID

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Netherlands ID

Against (1)

1

Austria ID

3

Finland ID

2

Denmark ID

Abstain (1)

1

Estonia ID

Abstain (1)

1
AmendmentsDossier
285 2021/2209(INI)
2021/12/14 CULT 57 amendments...
source: 703.004
2021/12/16 AFET 135 amendments...
source: 702.918
2022/01/21 DEVE 93 amendments...
source: 703.254

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

docs/4
date
2022-05-03T00:00:00
docs
title: T9-0138/2022
type
Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
body
EP
events/4/docs
  • url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CRE-9-2022-05-02-TOC_EN.html title: Debate in Parliament
events/5
date
2022-05-03T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0138_EN.html title: T9-0138/2022
summary
events/5
date
2022-05-03T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
title: T9-0138/2022
procedure/Legislative priorities
  • title: The EU’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/thematicnote.do?id=2065000&l=en
procedure/subject/4.40
Education, vocational training and youth
docs/4
date
2022-05-03T00:00:00
docs
title: T9-0138/2022
type
Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
body
EP
events/3/docs
  • url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2022-0058_EN.html title: A9-0058/2022
events/4
date
2022-05-02T00:00:00
type
Debate in Parliament
body
EP
events/5
date
2022-05-03T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
title: T9-0138/2022
forecasts
  • date: 2022-05-02T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting Parliament's vote
New
Procedure completed
procedure/subject/4.40
Education, vocational training and youth
forecasts
  • date: 2022-05-02T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
forecasts
  • date: 2022-05-02T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
events/3/summary
  • The Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted an own-initiative report by David LEGA (EPP, SE) on ‘Towards an EU strategy to promote education for children in the world: mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic’.
  • According to Unicef, more than 168 million children have lost a full year of education because of school closures due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. Education has been significantly disrupted for 800 million students worldwide, who have lost an average of two-thirds of a school year. Since March 2020, some 194 countries have been forced to close schools across their territory due to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting more than 1.8 billion learners worldwide and depriving them of access to education and other benefits offered by school.
  • Members urged the Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and Member States to promote a child rights-based approach in global efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's access to education, and on the principles of non-discrimination, best interests of the child and child participation.
  • Recognising that education is a cross-cutting issue that affects all aspects of sustainable development, the report stressed the importance of ensuring children's right to education and giving every child the chance to return to school. In particular, it called on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to:
  • - support the authorities of third countries in prioritising school reopening in their recovery plans ;
  • - support third-country authorities in ensuring that all children can enjoy their right to primary education and to take action to ensure that secondary education is available and accessible;
  • - support third-country authorities in developing and implementing digital teaching and learning methods and to facilitate internet access for all;
  • - support the authorities of third countries in financing and implementing ‘safe school’ operations, including providing hygiene supplies and sharing information on handwashing and other hygiene measures, as well as on maintaining the continuity of nutrition services for school-age children and adolescents;
  • - support the authorities of third countries in establishing education risk mitigation and management plans through resilience planning;
  • - support the authorities of third countries in proactively issuing guidance on best practices in remote learning , and in ensuring that appropriate and safe tools, curricula and technology are used and are made accessible to children from low-income families, rural, indigenous and migrant children, marginalised children and children with disabilities or learning difficulties;
  • - maintain robust funding for education through all EU financial instruments available;
  • - support the governments of third countries in building and further developing stronger gender-responsive and inclusive education systems accompanied by the eradication of all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls;
  • - preserve and further strengthen the achievements of the past 20 years in education for women and girls in Afghanistan ;
  • - develop specific programmes to manage and mitigate the mental health and psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on children, teachers and their communities;
  • - support the authorities of partner countries in addressing the challenges in their education systems with the aim of making them capable of withstanding future crises, and making systems more resilient and inclusive.
  • The report urged countries around the world to consider education as an investment rather than an expense . Members believe that adequate and effective financial assistance for education is a prerequisite to eliminate poverty and enhance well-being. They called on the Commission and Member States to substantially increase funding for education in their international development and assistance strategies.
  • Members stressed the role of non-formal and informal education, citizenship education and volunteering. They called for environmental education to become an essential component of the school curriculum. The report also urged the importance of accompanying investment in training and education with support for job creation to provide a better outlook for the next generation of young people in Africa and other developing regions.
events/3
date
2022-03-22T00:00:00
type
Committee report tabled for plenary
body
EP
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting committee decision
New
Awaiting Parliament's vote
events/2
date
2022-03-15T00:00:00
type
Vote in committee
body
EP
procedure/Other legal basis
Rules of Procedure EP 159
docs/3/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/DEVE-AD-700642_EN.html
docs/3
date
2022-03-04T00:00:00
docs
title: PE700.642
committee
DEVE
type
Committee opinion
body
EP
forecasts/0
date
2022-03-14T00:00:00
title
Vote scheduled in committee
forecasts/0/date
Old
2022-03-15T00:00:00
New
2022-03-14T00:00:00
docs/2/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CULT-AD-699300_EN.html
docs/2/date
Old
2022-02-02T00:00:00
New
2022-02-08T00:00:00
docs/2
date
2022-02-02T00:00:00
docs
title: PE699.300
committee
CULT
type
Committee opinion
body
EP
docs/1/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/AFET-AM-702918_EN.html
forecasts/1
date
2022-05-02T00:00:00
title
Indicative plenary sitting date
docs/1
date
2021-12-16T00:00:00
docs
title: PE702.918
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP