Opinion on 'Education and training in face of technological, industrial and social challenges: First thoughts`(96/C 100/21)

The Committee of the Regions decided on 13 March 1995, in accordance with Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to draw up an Own-Initiative Opinion on the above-mentioned subject.

Commission 6 for Education and Training was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on this subject. The Rapporteur was Mr Paul White.

At its 9th Plenary Session (meeting of 20 and 21 September 1995), the Committee of the Regions adopted the following Opinion.

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

Having regard to the guidelines set out in the White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment () which the communication under consideration aims to implement by laying the foundations for a forward looking approach to eduction and training policy;

Having regard to the Committee of the Regions' Supplementary Opinion (CdR 64/94 fin) on the educational and training aspects of the White paper on growth, competitiveness and employment which stressed the importance of diversifying organizational structures and teaching methods within education and training systems in order to provide a basis for effective life-long learning;

Having regard to the Commission's communication on the White Paper 'European social policy - A way forward for the Union` and the Committee of the Regions' Opinion (CdR 243/94) thereon;

Having regard to the Commission's communication on 'Europe's way to the information society - An action plan` and the Committee of the Regions' Opinion (CdR 231/94) thereon;

Whereas the Committee of the Regions stresses the need to fully respect the diversity of local and regional authorities' competences in the EU, in particular in the application of the principle of subsidiarity, as underlined in the COR Opinion on the revision of the Treaty on the European Union (CdR 136/95);

Whereas following Articles 126 and 127 of the EC Treaty, Community vocational training policy which supports and supplements action of the Member States and Community action in the field of education which is limited to encouraging cooperation between Member States and, if necessary, supporting and supplementing their action, are to be implemented while fully respecting the responsibility of the Member States for the content and organization of teaching, education systems and vocational training and their cultural and linguistic diversity, thereby excluding any harmonization of the laws and regulations of the Member States;

makes the following remarks.

1. Introduction

1.1. The Committee of the Regions (COR) welcomes the Commission's communication (COM(94) 528 final) on the need to establish a coherent policy on education and training in the Community and fully supports the Commission's intentions to promote the European Dimension, through the means and objectives of life-long learning in a rapidly changing information and technological society.

1.2. The regional and local bodies of the European Union, as major service providers, have direct experience of the impact of technological advances on their communities. Through this response the COR offers a practical perspective on accessing and providing education and training services and disseminating good practice and asks the Council to consider specific proposals for future development.

1.3. The Committee of the Regions asks to be consulted by the Commission with regard to any future development of discussion documents or education and training initiatives in this field, in particular within the framework of the European Year of Life-long Learning.

2. General comments

2.1. The Committee of the Regions recognizes that the changing patterns of manufacturing, employment and business organization demand a reappraisal of education and training systems. The COR welcomes the Commission's intention to review the interrelationship between education and training and establish them as an autonomous and coherent policy area, bringing a decisive impact upon economic growth as well as the quality of life, enhancing the personal development of every individual.

2.2. Like the Commission, the Committee of the Regions does not underestimate the need for the far reaching adaptation of systems and would ask the Commission to recognize the differences in experience, organization and infrastructure of service providers across Member States, and in certain cases within Member States, and the pace at which changes in strategy can be translated into effective action.

2.3. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the Commission's acknowledgement that to achieve sustained socio-economic modernization across the Union in the future, a coherent policy supported by all partners will be required.

2.4. The increasing need for technological skills with the transformation of production processes and the emergence of the information society will be accompanied by increasing demands for interpersonal skills, and in particular communication skills. There will also be a requirement for broader based multi-disciplinary transferable skills allowing more flexibility in employment and the ability to respond quickly to changing requirements. The COR underlines the value of promoting the concept of life-long learning within education and training systems and in particular stresses the need for more emphasis to be given to adult education.

2.5. By recognizing learning as a key strategic activity for individuals as well as organizations, the Committee of the Regions would ask the Commission to maintain an appropriate balance between meeting the needs of the economy and meeting those of individuals. The COR stresses the important role of local and regional authorities in ensuring this balance through cooperation between local economic and social actors and education and training establishments. Where possible the Commission is asked to seek added value and bring complementarity to existing initiatives currently being undertaken by Member States designed to improve competence and to recognize, develop and achieve the full potential of each individual.

2.6. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the Commission's identification of five themes and submits the following specific comments which might be considered alongside the new reality that knowledge is impermanent and widely distributed throughout society.

3. Specific comments (regarding points in reference document)

3.1. The anticipation of needs for the adaption of systems

3.1.1. The Committee of the Regions stresses the fundamental importance of identifying locally and regionally based skill needs. The particular employment demands and differing circumstances of the region or locality, as well as cultural diversity must be taken into account in considering the development of supply. The COR therefore calls for local and regional authorities to be fully involved in decisions concerning the anticipation of skill needs.

3.1.2. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the Commission's proposal to establish a European network to observe changes in skills and occupations involving appropriate research specialists from education and training and calls for the involvement of local and regional authorities in this network. The COR would also propose an examination of quality assurance and marketing initiatives in the Community which can quickly identify changed requirements.

3.1.3. The Committee of the Regions trusts that the Commission in the development of this network will continue to support the growth of information 'gateways` in the regions and believes that using existing networks such as local authorities, the Chambers of Commerce, education business partnerships and trade unions will greatly assist the anticipation of needs for the adaptation of systems.

3.1.4. The Committee of the Regions considers it important that the Commission examines how influential initiatives at national level are in supporting change at local and regional level and how it promotes the spread of good practice through the effective dissemination of case studies.

3.2. The development of supply

3.2.1. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the Commission's recognition that the development of core and transferable skills must be a central feature of a coherent policy on education and training in the Community. The COR endorses the Commission's initiative to develop common objectives and education and training management charts to establish a process of permanent follow-up on this issue through programmes such as Socrates and Leonardo.

3.2.2. It is the Committee of the Regions' belief that there is a need to promote the concept of credit transfer and develop more modular training across the Community to provide more effective pathways to meet changing employment requirements.

3.3. The ways and the means

3.3.1. The Committee of the Regions emphatically endorses the Commission's initiative to establish a database of innovative education and training resources, including 'distance` and 'open` or resource-based learning.

3.3.2. The Committee of the Regions underlines the knowledge gained by regional and local councils who have contributed to the production of resources and the establishment and growth of information highways in Member States. The COR would welcome opportunities provided by the Commission to contribute to the development of new education and training media and to the establishment of a clear framework for the control of new communications technologies. The COR believes that through networks of education and training providers both in the public and private sectors it would be possible to provide focused access to information, thus helping in the screening of inappropriate material.

3.3.3. The development of the information society is largely being characterized at present by issues surrounding access. The Committee of the Regions believes that the key issue will become how the dissemination of information on such a large scale to individuals and organizations can be used most effectively to realize educational, training and economic goals.

3.3.4. The empowerment of the individual to manage their own learning through the new technologies has significant implications and the Committee of the Regions recognizes that its members have a pivotal role in the development of study skills and active learning approaches in initial integration and continuing education and training systems and would ask the Commission to recognize this role. The COR believes that specific action needs to be taken to promote equal opportunities in access to education and training particularly between men and women and to ensure that disadvantaged groups (such as those in rural communities, elderly people, ethnic minorities and immigrants) are not disenfranchised from new technology and learning opportunities.

3.3.5. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the Commission's intention to develop programmes with the private sector but would wish to see careful monitoring and assurance of quality and standards of training in order to enable equal access to learning opportunities in those areas (e.g. rural areas) where the commercial returns might be less attractive to potential partners.

3.4. The resources

3.4.1. The Committee of the Regions agrees with the Commission that to meet the training needs identified, additional resources will need to be made available and welcomes suggestions made by the Commission to increase the levels of funding through new financial partnerships, services and the treatment of the training costs of businesses or individuals as capital expenditure.

3.4.2. The Committee of the Regions trusts that the Commission will continue to assess the appropriateness and added value brought by each of the possibilities outlined in the communication.

3.4.3. The Committee of the Regions would welcome an investigation into existing organizations contributing to the 'learning community` to identify opportunities to release funds for new initiatives.

3.5. The players

3.5.1. The Committee of the Regions regrets that no mention is made of the role of local and regional authorities as key players in defining a forward looking approach to education and training policy, enabling education and training systems to respond to socio-economic, technological change, many local and regional authorities having important competences in the fields of education and training and valuable experiences and knowledge in the adaptation of education and training systems.

3.5.2. The Committee of the Regions stresses the importance of defining future strategies in this area through a coordinated, rather than sectoral, approach focusing on synergy between various actions and it emphasizes the key role of local and regional authorities in promoting partnership schemes and cooperation with education and training establishments, businesses (in particular SMEs) and social actors, as underlined in its supplementary Opinion on the White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment (CdR 64/94 fin.).

3.5.3. The Committee of the Regions refers to its Opinion on the European Year of Life-long Learning (CdR 244/94) in which it calls for support to be given to the development of networks at local and regional level, for exchange of information and dissemination of good practice in the area of access and use of information technology and in particular distance learning not only in urban areas but also within rural development projects.

3.5.4. Moreover, the Committee of the Regions points out that considerable work has already been undertaken at national, regional and local level and calls for experience gained from both public and private initiatives to be disseminated more widely in the community.

3.5.5. The COR stresses the important contribution the Comett programme on advanced technology training has made to local and regional development in particular through cooperation between industry and universities.

3.5.6. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the Commission's acknowledgement of the benefits of a social dialogue with key players and the assistance provided for the social partners for joint operations and projects. The COR believes that extended joint action planned within the framework of Leonardo would prove the most effective system to support the development of this dimension of activity.

3.5.7. The recommendation by the Commission for the development of two approaches to establish common objectives of training policies and measures and systematically observe good practice is welcomed by the Committee of the Regions.

3.5.8. The Committee of the Regions believes it will be possible to enhance the dialogue at all levels by targeting and influencing key players and opinion formers in the community through the use of multi-media.

3.6. The promotion of the European dimension

3.6.1. The Committee of the Regions recognizes the importance of a more dynamic language programme in all Member States and fully supports the Lingua activities under the Socrates programme in promoting language skills in the Community. It reminds the Commission of their concern about the potential impact of the global information society on individual national languages, particularly the language of ethnic minorities.

3.6.2. There is a significant opportunity to enhance language development in the Community through multi-media approaches and the COR welcomes initiatives promoted by the Commission to develop this area of modern technology in educational establishments.

3.6.3. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the Commission's action to assign an overall objective to the measures for both academic and vocational recognition, and believes that there should be wider recognition throughout the Community of additional qualifications.

3.6.4. Member States value the development of synergy between different types of recognition and the Committee of the Regions would propose the development of European targets for education and training achievement at the earliest opportunity.

3.6.5. The Committee of the Regions would welcome an investigation by the Commission into best practice in the Community in persuading adults to engage in continuing education and training.

3.6.6. The organization of the European Year of Life-long Learning is warmly welcomed by the Committee of the Regions as indicated in its Opinion on the subject (COR 244/94). The Commission's intention to foster the necessary public debate needed to achieve the objectives will require the involvement and public commitment of leaders from both business and the public sector, in particular from local and regional authorities. The Committee of the Regions believes this very important initiative will demand a coordinated publicity campaign across the Community and would encourage the Commission to secure private sector support in financing the campaign.

4. Conclusions and further recommendations

4.1. In conclusion the Committee of the Regions expresses its support for the Commission communication 'Education and training in the face of technological, industrial and social challenges` (COM(94) 528 final) and would make the following comments:

4.2. The Committee of the Regions endorses the forward looking approach to education and training policy to harness the benefits of technological advance.

4.3. It points out that it has concerns related to the issue of social disadvantage, and the question of ensuring equal access to new technologies for education and training for all citizens across the Community. In this context, the COR calls for support to be given to the important work in combating social exclusion carried out by ATD Fourth World, in particular on access to new technology for very disadvantaged young people.

4.4. It considers that the establishment of local centres for life-long learning could help compensate for disadvantaged home environments and would welcome an investigation into existing providers in the 'learning community` to identify best practice and opportunities to release funds for new initiatives. The COR stresses the fundamental role of libraries, adult education centres, community and health centres in ensuring access to information in particular through electronic systems of communication especially for disadvantaged groups as well as for the disabled, elderly and those living in remote areas.

4.5. Moreover, the COR stresses the need to disseminate good practice on the various initiatives promoting new approaches to lifelong learning, as outlined in the COR Opinion on the European Year of Life-long Learning (CdR 244/94).

4.6. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the Commission's proposals for more research into education and training issues and considers that further examination of areas such as quality assurance, marketing and credit transfer might provide valuable guidance for the development of a more flexible workforce in the Community. This should also be promoted within the context of the targeted socio-economic research programme within the 4th framework programme for research and technological development and demonstration (1994-1998), which focuses on research on education and training.

4.7. The Committee of the Regions would propose the development of European targets for education and training and welcomes the opportunities provided by the European Year of Life-long Learning to stimulate the growth of information 'gateways` in the regions.

4.8. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the opportunity to celebrate the arts and the cultural heritage of the Community, in particular through the promotion of minority languages, through the European Year of Life-long Learning and recognizes the added value that would be brought to this initiative by the effective use of multimedia and by the expansion of education and training exchanges.

4.9. The Committee of the Regions recognizes that the regional and local authorities of the European Union, as major providers, are well placed to lead individuals and organizations into and through a new learning environment, in a way that can be both interesting as well as economically essential.

4.10. The Committee of the Regions would wish to continue to play its full part in supporting Community action on education and training in the face of new challenges and must be consulted on all decisions and measures provided for in any action plan.

Done at Brussels, 20 September 1995.

The Chairman of the Committee of the Regions

Jacques BLANC

() White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment (COM(94) 700 final).