Statement to the European Commission on the update of the Digital Education Action Plan

CSC welcomes the Commission’s plan to update the Digital Education Action Plan in the aftermath of the digital leap that European education and training systems have taken during the school and campus closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is of utmost importance that the lessons learned from this development are analysed and best practices shared.

As the world is becoming more and more digitalised, education and training systems must be able to ensure that all Europeans have the necessary digital skills and competences as well as make use of the opportunities of digitalisation for teaching and learning as well as development of lifelong learning, international mobility and data-based quality assessment. Digitalisation in the field of education cannot be seen as an isolated technical phenomenon but it must be addressed with a strong pedagogical approach and according to the same principles and objectives as education and training in general (e.g. equity, data protection).

Digitalisation should be met with solutions developed in good cooperation across all levels and fields of education with the aim of creating such interoperable platforms, tools and databases that support the creation of a seamless path of digital services for lifelong learning. Special emphasis must be placed on improving the quality and availability of open education resources as well as remote assessment and recognition of competences.

Digitalisation can also support international mobility in various ways and make it more sustainable. As the digital solutions for international mobility require use and mobility of data, the Digital Education Action Plan must be closely linked to European data policies. Remote learning and international mobility also require a safe, reliable and user-friendly solution for identification of learners.

As Digital solutions are needed to achieve the objectives of the European Education Area, the European Education Area and the Digital Education Action Plan need to be developed in close convergence. In addition, in order to build a solid and continuous competence and innovation base in Europe, a tighter connection between European Education Area and European Research Area is needed.

Read the whole statement here