51 Amendments of Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS related to 2021/2209(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Welcomes the commitments made at the May 2021 UNESCO World Summit on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the adoption of the Berlin Declaration; insists on ensuring quality education for all children as an enabler for all SDGs and on the importance of integrating ESD into all levels of education and training from early childhood to tertiary and adult education, including VET, non-formal education and informal learning1a; _________________ 1a https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/es dfor2030-berlin-declaration-en.pdf
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1 b. Calls on the EEAS to promote coordination between educational, social and health services; recalls schools should be safe refuge for children, providing public spaces for democratic rights and freedom of expression; urges for specific attention to children with specific pedagogical needs, children from vulnerable groups, such as refugees, children in emergency situations, living in remote areas or from disadvantaged backgrounds; reaffirms that the payment of education fees should not be an obstacle to access quality education, especially since the pandemic has led to an impoverishment of children and their families;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1 c. Urges the authorities of third countries to safeguard the opening of schools as a key objective in a pandemic, if not ensuring pedagogical continuity for all children, such as with protective health and security measures, vaccination strategies and distance learning capacity, and for the EEAS to increase its guidance and support to governments around the world towards these objectives; in priority assisting low and low-middle-income countries in ensuring their educational institutions have access to basic health and sanitary infrastructures;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 d (new)
Paragraph -1 d (new)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 d (new)
Paragraph -1 d (new)
-1 d. Calls on the Commission, the Member States as well as national governments of third countries to develop strategies and guidelines for the education sector to respond to possible subsequent waves of the pandemic in a coordinated and organized manner with the aim of minimising the negative impacts on the learning process;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. BWelcomes the UNESCO Paris Declaration: 'a global call for investing in the futures of education'1b; urges countries around the world to consider education as an investment rather than an expense; believes that adequate financial assistance in education is a prerequisite to eliminate poverty and enhance human well-being, especially at a time when public resources are increasingly constrained with competing demands in sectors such as health and education; urges the European Commission and Member States to substantially increase education financing in their international development and assistance strategies; _________________ 1b https://en.unesco.org/education2030- sdg4/gem2021-paris-declaration
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Insists on the Union to act as an educational power that enables Member States to fully exercise their capacity to convince, assist and support education for children in the world; urges the European Commission for further efforts in defining a strategy in that regard, with a clear outline and objectives, and in the framework of the European Education Area;
Amendment 19 #
2. Stresses the importance of improving cost analysis when selecting and monitoring education projects, of ensuring that projects last long enough to address children’s educational needs, of avoiding excessive administrative burdens for implementing partners, and of addressing long-term sustainability in cash-for- education projects; calls for increased public-private partnerships in education for children;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Calls for setting up strict evaluation and control on the allocation of EU funds to educational projects in third countries to make sure assistance effectively goes to structures and non- governmental organisations that are in line with European values, serve proper training of teachers and provide children with educational material that does not incite to hatred against others;
Amendment 23 #
C. whereas since March 2020, around 194 countries have closed schools nationwide because of the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting more than 1.8 billion school learners globally and cutting off their access to education and to other vital benefits that schools provide; whereas one third of children globally do not have access to the internetin some regions schools are still closed;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
C c. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic and fast-tracked innovative measures used to ensure continuous learning for children provides an opportunity to reimagine education and build systems that are more forward-looking, inclusive, flexible and resilient;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas during the emergency school closure more than 90 percent of countries have implemented some form of remote learning policy; whereas remote learning mostly benefited children in primary and secondary education levels, leaving pre-primary level children at risk of being unprepared for primary school;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Calls on the Commission to take appropriate legislative measures in the field of international trade and cooperation to avoid exacerbating child labour as every child has a fundamental right to enrol in quality education; encourages countries around the world to implement legal frameworks for public school enrolment and to set a minimum school-leaving age;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
C b. whereas at least 463 million or over 30 percent of schoolchildren remain cut off from education mostly because of lack of remote learning programmes, access to the internet or equipment needed for learning at home; whereas a need for remote education will remain after the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in countries vulnerable to environmental risks leading to emergency school closure; whereas remote learning programmes need to be designed around modalities that are accessible to all children and adapted for households that do not have access to broadcast or digital media;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Encourages further development and reinforcement of programmes in low- and middle-income countries aimed at countering disinformation, mitigating the fears of parents following the pandemic and illustrating the advantages and the potential of schooling in order to boost school attendance and ensure that children progress as far as possible in the education system;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. DUrges to place teachers at the heart of education systems and to promote the teaching profession and its recognition; draws attention to the potential of online platforms such as eTwinning and teacher academies under Erasmus+ in order to empower teachers, even beyond the EU, to help them communicate with their peers, exercise their professionalism and benefit from professional learning opportunities; calls for increased support for teachers continuous training, especially on digital skills; recalls the importance raising the awareness of teachers and including them in national preventive health measures and vaccination plans; urges to address the challenge of teachers replacement during a pandemic;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas well before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was already facing a global learning crisis, with more than half (53 %) of children in low- and middle- income countries unable to read; whereas in low-income countries, the learning crisis is even more acute, with the ‘learning poverty’ rate reaching over 87 % – 90 % in Sub-Saharan Africa; whereas an estimated 617 million children between the ages of 6 and 14 do not have minimum proficiency levels in reading4 ; _________________ 4UNESCO (September 2017), Fact Sheet No. 46, More Than One-Half of Children and Adolescents Are Not Learning Worldwide. caused not only by hampered access to education due to poverty, long commute to the nearest school, harmful gender norms, discrimination of vulnerable groups, environmental risks and conflicts, but also by schooling that does not necessarily lead to learning; whereas 617 million children and adolescents worldwide are unable to reach minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics, even though two thirds of them are in school;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Calls for digital learning to become an emergency service in school systems around the word; stresses that it should however not replace ‘in person’ education but that hybrid learning can bring opportunities in line with the digital transition; encourages world leaders to consider connectivity and access to digital infrastructures, such as access to an affordable and quality network, as a right derived from the fundamental right to education;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. As online learning has become one of the few ways of ensuring continuity of learning during school closures, emphasizes the importance of projects aimed at providing adequate infrastructure and connectivity, especially in the most remote areas; calls on the Commission to increase the proportion of such projects, and on the Member States as well as national authorities of partner countries to take part in them more intensively;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Emphasises the role of non-formal and informal education, citizenship education and volunteering; calls on the Commission to support third countries on improving the recognition of soft skills; insists on the promotion of practices of intergenerational solidarity and mentoring to reduce inequalities, exclusion or early school leaving;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Calls for wide availability of free and open source technologies and digital tools as well as educational resources for teachers and students worldwide and emphasises the need for their further support and expansion;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas an estimated additional 825 million children will not reach adulthood with the secondary-level skills they need for work and life by 2030; whereas millions of children and young people who regularly attended schools are not developing the skills they need to get a job, start a businesssuccessfully enter the labour market and contribute to their communities;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas school closures have a large economic impact as they prevent children and youth from developing necessary skills and accessing higher and/or reaching their full poterntiary education, which leads to them entering the labour market upon completion of their education without the required skillsl and preparing for life and work, giving rise to learning losses and increases in inequality;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for the acceleration of North- South and South-North knowledge exchanges and mobility at all levels of education, while acknowledging the complex nature of the history of North- South relationships and emphasising the importance of promoting heritage, cultural identity, history and art through education; notes the potential of hybrid mobility in that regard;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas according to UN, there are 11 million primary and secondary school learners worldwide – 5.2 million of whom are girls – at risk of not returning to education following COVID-19-related school closures5 ; whereas the longer children are out of school, the greater the risk that they will drop out of education altogether; _________________ 5 UNESCO (30 July 2020), How many students are at risk of not returning to school?.
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. SInsists on matching educational systems with labour market needs; stresses the importance of vocational education and training, particularly for children in third countries, to help them find stable work and give them and their families a reason to finish school. ; calls for the promotion of VET as a path of excellence leading to employment; reiterates the importance of the external dimension of the European Education Area and subjacent VET Area; insists on international mobility and exchanges of best practices in the sector, also to promote intercultural and learning experiences, beyond formal education, both within the EU and with third countries;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas it is estimated that school closures during crises may lead to increases in teenage pregnancy of as much as 65 %6 ; whereas girls out of school are disproportionally exposed to the risk of chilforced transactional sex and early and forced marriage; whereas it is estimated that one million girls in Sub-Saharan Africagirls may be blocked from returning to schools once they reopen given the existence of certain policies that ban pregnant girls and young mothers from school; _________________ 6World Vision (2020), COVID-19 Aftershocks: Access Denied.
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
I a. whereas 129 million girls worldwide are out of school, including 32 million of primary school age, 30 million of lower-secondary school age, and 67 million of upper-secondary school age; whereas only 49 % of countries have achieved gender parity in participation in primary education, 42 % of countries have achieved gender parity in lower secondary education and only 24 % in upper secondary education;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)
Recital I b (new)
I b. whereas nine of the top 10 most difficult nations for girls to be educated are in sub-Saharan Africa and the remaining one is Afghanistan, where Taliban have effectively deprived girls from education past primary school by ordering re-opening of secondary schools only for boys; whereas an unclear Taliban policy, vague and unfulfilled promises about girls education makes millions of Afghan girls understandably fearful for their education; whereas several international initiatives by universities and private individuals emerged offering remote education for Afghan girls and women;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Commits to making education a key topic of discussion in Parliamentary delegation work, especially through Joint Parliamentary Assemblies such as the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas school closures have been essential to limit the spread of COVID-19, in particular to elderly people and other vulnerable people in contact with children and youth; whereas schools are more than places where children can learn, as they also constitute hubs for mental health and psychosocial support; whereas according to UNESCO and UNICEF, school closures do not only affect the right to education but also the right to health, with more than 80 million children missing primary vaccinations as a result of school closures; whereas school closures also impact the right to good nutrition as 304 million children have no access to a daily meal when schools are closed; whereas school closures seriously affect children’s mental wellbeing as children can be exposed to violence and stress in the home;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas dropping out of school reinforces social inequality and may affect a country’s stability and prosperity jeopardizing the futures of millions of the world’s poorest children and risking the loss of a whole generation;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1 Acknowledges and expresses appreciation for the work of teachers, all kinds of educators and supporting staff, who rapidly adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic situation and ensured continuation of learning process for children and adolescents; also, commends initiatives by international and local civil society organisations, private citizens and businesses to provide children with information and communication technology, remote learning courses and other learning materials, especially in countries where children have limited access to remote learning or no access to learning at all;
Amendment 71 #
1. Stresses the key importance of guaranteeing children's rights to education and giving every child the opportunity to go back to school and calls on the Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the Member States to support the authorities of third countries in prioritising school reopening in their recovery plans, including support for teachers to help children catch up with lost learning and support for children’s wellbeing, as schools are critical for children’s learning, safety, health, nutrition and overall wellbeing;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Considers that improving domestic resource mobilisation, protecting and increasing domestic expenditure on education, and improving the quality of this expenditure is essential in national recovery plans worldwide; insists, in this context, on ensuring equitable allocation and financing so that impoverished, marginalised children and young people are not left behind;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to support the authorities of third countries in 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; highlights, in this regard, the key role that teachers can play in health promotion;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Stresses that schools meals are not only vital in ensuring children’s nutrition, growth and development, they also provide a strong incentive for children – especially girls and those from the poorest and most marginalized communities – to return to school once restrictions are lifted;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to support the authorities of third countries in establishing education risk mitigation and management plans through resilience planning; highlights the importance of developing contingency planning and crisis response plans now to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in schools and to better anticipate the impact of school closures on children, especially on the poorest and most marginalised children;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission and the EEAS to support the governments of third countries in building stronger gender- responsive education systems and in such cases as Afghanistan, where Taliban does not ensure girls and women rights to education, work and public life, supports that the EU financial support through the authorities be conditional on full respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 e (new)
Paragraph 10 e (new)
10 e. Reiterates its call on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to further strengthen their support for gender equality, the full enjoyment of human rights by all women and girls and their empowerment worldwide; calls for further action to protect girls at risk of or living in poverty and girls who face a greater risk of early and forced marriage, and to ensure the well-being and development prospects of all children and communities;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Calls upon the Commission and the EEAS to preserve and further strengthen the achievements of the past 20 years in girls and women education in Afghanistan; urges to allocate required funds within the EU humanitarian aid package for Afghanistan to enable international and local organizations to facilitate re-opening of educational facilities for girls and women and to develop remote learning programmes as a temporary measure; calls for similar attention to education of Afghan children and youth in countries hosting Afghan refugees;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 d (new)
Paragraph 10 d (new)
10 d. Condemns the fact that millions of girls worldwide do not have access to education, thus leaving them exposed to dependence and at a higher risk of violence and exploitation; calls for the EU, the Member States and global actors to support worldwide actions to provide girls with quality education; highlights the need to support women’s participation in STEM education and careers; urges to address gender-related barriers to education such as laws, policies and harmful social-cultural norms that prevent girls from continuing education in case of pregnancy, marriage and motherhood; encourages to tackle gender stereotypes and harmful socio-cultural norms through education, and prevent violence through gender-sensitive education programming for both boys and girls;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10 b. Underlines that the right to education and information on sexual and reproductive health, family planning, modern contraceptive methods, safe and legal abortion, and maternal, prenatal and postnatal health care, must be guaranteed for all people;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10 c. Rejects the misuse and instrumentalisation of belief or religion to impose discriminatory access to education and closing of schools; calls for these practices to be put an end and urges for the reopening of all schools for girls and women;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Urges to cease opportunity and employ COVID-19 recovery funds and fast-tracked innovative measures used to ensure remote learning during the pandemic to reimagine education and build systems that are more forward- looking, inclusive, flexible and resilient; these new approaches must address learning losses, prevent dropouts, and ensure the social and emotional welfare of students, teachers and staff;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to 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, through planning for resilience, implementing learning recovery programmes and protecting educational budgets, with dedicated investments in high-quality, affordable and inclusive education, including investments in education technology, teacher training and other resources to ensure that children and youth reach their full potential, are prepared for life and do not miss out on opportunities to enter the labour market later in life;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Highlights that remote learning programmess designed to address future crises must encompass different learning materials, including printed ones, in order to be accessible to most disadvantaged and marginalised children;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Highlights the importance of preparing andcontinuous professional development and financial supporting for teachers, empowering them to address learning losses among their students and to incorporate digital technology into their teaching;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Considers that national governments – and their competent national, regional or local authorities – must communicate with children in a child- friendly manner to explain the measures taken to limit the spread of COVID-19;