Written by Monika Kiss, Surveys reveal that 70 million adults have insufficient basic skills, which can lead to problems at individual and societal levels. The Skills Guarantee aims to encourage upskilling pathways at national level, with implementation and monitoring supported by the European Commission. The European Parliament highlights the importance of the involvement of social … Continue reading
Written by Denise Chircop, The Lifelong Learning Week, which is supported by Members of the European Parliament, will be held in the second week of October 2016. The week brings together learners, educators, field workers, policy makers, thinkers and political representatives. Events focus around the themes of learning to live together, 21st century skills and … Continue reading
The European Union faces major structural and demographic challenges. To maintain its position as world-leading economy, the EU needs to attract more skilled labour. Students from third countries are an important source of skilled workers, while the EU has a shortage of the researchers and innovators desperately required if the Union is to meet its … Continue reading
Computers and the Internet are changing the world. The innovations produced by the digital economy are gaining in popularity: think of cloud computing, social networks, mobile broadband, to name a few. But can these be the solution for unemployment in Europe? As Internet in Europe rapidly penetrates all areas of life, EU-citizens are acquiring basic … Continue reading
With almost 6 million jobless young people in the EU, policymakers are under pressure to find solutions to combat high youth unemployment. Whilst Youth Guarantees have been widely discussed and are currently being developed in many Member States, mobility – another strand of the European Commission’s (EC) Youth Employment Package – has received much less attention. … Continue reading
With high levels of youth unemployment in the European Union, helping young people find work is a pressing problem. By providing opportunities in a real work situation to acquire valuable skills and learn appropriate behaviour, traineeships can help young people make the transition from education or unemployment to permanent work. In addition to acquiring skills … Continue reading
The publication last month of OECD’s first skills survey of adults aged 16-65 emphasised critical weaknesses in the European labour force in the areas of literacy, numeracy and digital skills. As the EP Committee for Culture & Education meets this week to vote on the agreement reached with the Council on Erasmus+, we focus on … Continue reading