The economic crisis, education and the labour market

EESC opinion: The economic crisis, education and the labour market

Key points

In this own-initiative opinion from the EESC, Member States are urged to:

  • ensure that measures designed to cope with the economic crisis and sovereign debt do not jeopardise public investment in education and training;
  • focus in particular on public investment in education, research and vocational training when considering their medium-term budgetary targets, in order to ensure the continuity and growth of investment in these sectors;
  • underline the need to improve the teaching of pupils' mother tongues and to teach STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics);
  • improve early study and career guidance, taking account of labour market needs;
  • promote entrepreneurship at all levels of education;
  • boost the effective implementation of the European Qualifications Framework and the development of National Qualifications Schemes;
  • create additional training opportunities for young school-leavers and low-skilled workers, without neglecting digital literacy;
  • respect people's right to high-quality certified work-related training, irrespective of their qualifications or type of contract;
  • develop the recognition, validation and certification of skills acquired in different educational settings (both formal and non-formal) and in the course of people's working lives;
  • use European Funds, especially the European Social Fund, to support education and training;
  • support occupational integration programmes and encourage governments and businesses to use such instruments to create stable jobs; and
  • upgrade the teaching profession, promoting respect for education and continuous teacher training and improving teachers' working conditions and salaries.