Source: European Parliament
The Council Recommendation on the key enabling factors for successful digital education and training[1], a flagship deliverable of the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027[2] adopted in 2023, promotes equitable and impact-focused investment in digital education.
The recommendation calls on Member States to provide equal access to all learners by investing in high-speed Internet connectivity in all education and training institutions and closing territorial and socioeconomic gaps.
The recommendation suggests ways to increase the efficiency of spending on digital education in Member States, for example by considering alternative approaches to investment, including public-private partnerships, donation schemes, and the refurbishment of second-hand equipment. The Commission will report on the progress made in implementing the recommendation five years after its adoption.
Several EU funding instruments are devoted to digital education and skills : the Recovery and Resilience Facility[3], the European Social Fund Plus, the European Regional Development Fund and the Erasmus+ programme[4].
The European Court of Auditors concluded in 2023 that EU supported actions helped schools in their digitalisation efforts, but that Member States lacked strategic focus in the use of EU financing[5].
As announced in the Union of Skills package[6], based on a review of the Digital Education Action Plan, the Commission will present by the end of 2025 a 2030 Roadmap on the future of digital education and skills.
Throughout the consultations so far, stakeholders have called for an expanded and more inclusive Action Plan. In the 2030 Roadmap, the Commission will look into how to further promote equal access to digital education for all.
- [1] Council Recommendation of 23 November 2023 on the key enabling factors for successful digital education and training (OJ C, C/2024/1115, 24.1.2024).
- [2] https://education.ec.europa.eu/focus-topics/digital-education/action-plan
- [3] https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/economic-recovery/recovery-and-resilience-facility_en
- [4] https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/833629
- [5] Special report 11/2023: EU support for the digitalisation of schools https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/publications?ref=SR-2023-11
- [6] https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/union-skills_en