A European Commission report shows that Europe could become more economically and socially resilient with well-designed and well-targeted investment in education.
On 19 February, the European Commission published the analytical report Boosting social and economic resilience in Europe by investing in education edited by the European Expert Network of Education (EENEE). The main findings suggest that a well thought out investment approach to education can lead to economic, non-economic and societal benefits. In fact, European countries that have high standards for education recover faster from economic shocks and, in general, achieve a better economic resilience. Economic benefits of a smarter investment in education include the development of more specific skills, higher employability and productivity rates and higher average earnings. Increased quality of education is also linked to improved health statistics, lower crime rates, higher trust in governance, higher percentage of civic and political engagement and a stronger GDP growth. For example, a statistic shows that the percentage of individuals in the EU aged 16 and above who consider themselves to be in good or very good health is higher among those who have a tertiary education. In general, when comparing different policies over the past half century, investing in education (along with public health) has always shown the highest rate of return.
One of the objectives of the report is to quantify the implications of COVID-19 on education, for example, the effect that education related lockdowns have on individuals and on education institutions more generally. The authors of the report suggest that, to achieve a more inclusive, efficient and resilient education system in pandemic times, policy responses should follow three overlapping phases. The first is the ‘coping phase’: countries are learning along the way that it is a priority to reach students from all socio-economic backgrounds via distance learning, so that education does not become a privilege for certain groups only. Second is the ‘managing continuity phase’: education systems should direct their efforts towards closing learning gaps caused by the closures. In this phase, funding is essential for special remedial interventions. Last, we have the ‘improving and accelerating phase’: the forced remote learning trend throughout the EU can be useful to accelerate and optimise the digitalisation of education. The health crisis can further be seen as an opportunity to create stronger and more resilient education systems that can help build the European Education Area (EEA) by 2025.
Related to this report, the Commission launched an open call for expression of interest for a new expert group on quality investment in education and training. The group consisting of 15 experts with relevant educational background will first define the meaning of quality education and training and subsequently take into account best practices of different education systems of EU Member States. The objective will be to reconsider the usefulness and quality of existing investments in education and to see where improvements are needed. The estimated start of the working group, which is set up under the new EEA enabling framework, is in April 2021, for a duration of two years. The call is open until 20 March; more detailed information is available on the EC website.