Activities of Flavio ZANONATO related to 2017/2224(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on modernisation of education in the European Union
Amendments (21)
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Points out that the advanced character of the EU economy, as well as digitalisation, automation and robotisation of the EU labour market, has increased demand for high-level qualifications and skills, while demand for low-level qualifi; underlines that all jobs now require greater literacy, numeracy, digital and other basic skills; stresses that increased investments in educations and skills has decreasedtraining systems, as well as their modernization and adjustment, are a crucial condition for social and economic progress;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses that it is essential to invest in universal, quality education and training to foster social inclusion, equal opportunities and a culture of mutual respect and fundamental values; calls therefore on Member States and the Commission to strengthen education and training programmes at all levels in order to improve access to quality learning for all students, regardless their social, cultural, geographical or economical background, to avoid labour market and societal segmentation, to fight inequalities and to enable processes of upward social mobility and convergence throughout Europe;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Recalls that the first principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights states that everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market; therefore stresses the importance to ensure that social investment, especially in education and training for all, is prioritised in the new programming period of the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2020-2026;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that despite strong demand in the labour market for high-level skills, and the response of the education system in the form of the massive development of HEI (Higher Education Institutes), approximately 20 % of Europeans, including university graduates, lack basic skills such as reading, writing or numeracy1 ; recalls, moreover, that a similar number of Europeans have a low level of basic skills and that 44 % lack basic digital skills2 , which creates serious barriers to their civic and active participation in the society and to the technologically advanced labour market and everyday life; __________________ 1 http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/school /math_en 2 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta- political/files/digital-skills-factsheet- tallinn_en.pdf
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on Member States to increase cooperation between education and training providers, both formal and non-formal and the world of work, including a close dialogue with social partners, in both the development of curricula and the creation of apprenticeships and internships with a real educational value;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Calls on the Commission and Member States to promote the renewed EU agenda for higher education among HEIs, regional and local authorities, employers, with a view to addressing HEIs and students needs and challenges, creating links with local and regional actors, reaching out to the local communities, fostering local and regional development and innovation, building inclusive and connected higher education systems, strengthening collaboration with the world of work and addressing the regional skills needs;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that skills mismatch and shortages are responsible for both unemployment and unfilled job vacancies3 ; considers that these worrying phenomena should be tackled by modernising education systems, making education systems cooperate more closely with labour market actors and focusing more on training in soft and transversal skills to accommodate future skills needsnot only on the development of employability skills, but also on social and civic competencies in addition to transversal and soft skills, social and intercultural skills, critical and creative thinking, digital skills, problem solving and entrepreneurship; __________________ 3 http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/events- and-projects/projects/assisting-eu- countries-skills-matching
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recalls1a the importance of improving or introducing procedures for the recognition of informal and non- formal education, drawing on the best practices of Member States which have already introduced tools of that kind; notes, in this regard, the importance of policy response aimed at groups furthest from the labour market; __________________ 1a See text adopted. P8_TA(2017)0360
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to continue their efforts to enable the recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning – gained from free online courses such as MOOCs – which oftencould broaden access to education for underprivileged groups and therefore increase their opportunities for a better job and life, while simultaneously ensuring that education remains of high quality and content driven;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Member States to internationalise education systems and expand student mobility programmes to better prepare students for the EU labour market, in which a lack of skills in foreign languages and cultures is the first barrier to mobility; stresses that mobility programmes have contributed to European integration and have a positive impact on employment;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Highlights that, in the context of societal and labour market evolution, thinking in e education systerms of ‘jobs/positions’ is obsolete and is of the opinion that ‘task/should equip people with the right set of skills’, categories should be used instead, in both the education process and the recognition of education and qualificationsompetencies and knowledge to become active European citizens and to be successful in the labour market; stresses that developing and strengthening skills is a continuous process, which follows through all levels of education into the labour market;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. In the context ofAcknowledges the growing demand for high-level competences and skills, regrets that, over time, the massive development of higher education is resulting in the decreasing quality and inflation of diplom; consider that the mass character of HE cannot affect the quality of education as, with a simultaneous growing shortage of vocational skills and qualificationell as the level of acquired competences and skills for the graduates;
Amendment 95 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Highlights that the high number of NEETs could be reduced by preventing early school leavingAcknowledges that in the EU, 6.3 million young people (11.5% of those aged 15-24) were neither in employment, education or training (NEET) in 2016; highlights that the high number of NEETs could be reduced by preventing early school leaving; believes that completion of secondary education should be free and obligatory and calls on the Member States to increase their efforts to give people who have dropped out from primary or secondary school a chance of reenrolment and completion of their studies;
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Insists that graduate tracking information, gathering accurate and relevant data not only at national but also at EU level, is essential for quality assurance and appropriate educational contentin order to develop quality education, including vocational training programmes, employment strategies and to reform the education systems to become more flexible and inclusive;
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to make vocational and educational training more visible, to ensure that it is accessible to all, gender balanced and non-discriminatory, to guarantee sufficient financing and enhance its quality and attractiveness, and to promote VET, dual education, work- based learning and reality-based learning at every level and form of education, including universities,higher education in order to ensure stronger ties between the education and labour markets and to provide flexible paths between different types of educations; calls for the policyromotion of apprenticeships and entrepreneurship policies for young people to be developed, to make their entry into the labour market smoother; highlights the importance of quality education and vocational training in raising the status of work-based vocations;
Amendment 119 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Stresses the need to improve career guidance and promote apprenticeship and training possibilities through awareness raising initiatives for students, their parents, adult learners, education and training providers, employers and public employment services;
Amendment 123 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Underlines the need to offer proper learning and training content and decent working conditions for traineeships and apprenticeships to ensure their crucial role in the transition from education to professional life; stresses that traineeships and apprenticeships should never be used as a replacement for jobs or considered as a cheap or even unpaid labour force;
Amendment 127 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11c. Considers that in order to ensure the delivery of quality placements, the existence of an apprenticeship or a traineeship contract is fundamental to delineate roles and responsibilities of all parties specifying the length, the learning objectives and tasks corresponding to clearly identified skills to be developed, the employment status, adequate compensation/remuneration including for overtime, social protection and security schemes under the applicable national law, applicable collective agreements, or both;
Amendment 129 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recalls the importance of life-long learning in opening up new possibilities for active inclusion and enhanced social participation and in developing adult skills and qualifications to ensure people’s active participation in the labour market through upskilling and reskillingespecially for the low skilled, the unemployed, people with special needs, older generations and migrants through upskilling and reskilling; encourages the Commission to support the Member States in developing training and educational programmes facilitating active inclusion of adults returning to the labour market.
Amendment 133 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls on the Commission to strengthen its efforts through the ESF and the European Semester to support comprehensive public policies in the Member States, focused on providing smoother transitions from education and (long-term) unemployment to work and specifically for the full implementation of the measures at national level outlined in the Council Recommendation on the labour market integration of the long- term unemployed;
Amendment 137 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Underlines that refugees and migrants bring along new skills and knowledge which can have a positive cultural, social and economic impact in the host countries; stresses that retraining and other measures of vocational education and training for refugees and migrants should be further encouraged and formally and non-formally acquired skills evaluated and recognised according to a homogeneous assessment system;