A4-0200/97

Resolution on the Commission communication to the Council, European Parliament, Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions 'Learning in the Information society: action plan for a European education initiative¨ (COM(96)0471 - C4-0528/96)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission communication (COM(96)0471 - C4-0528/96),

- having regard to the final report of the Task Force for Educational Software and Multimedia, (SEC(96)1426 - C4-0625/96),

- having regard to its resolution of 16 February 1995 on the G7 conference on the information society ((OJ C 56, 6.3.1995, p. 97.)),

- having regard to opinion of 16 March 1995 on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision establishing 1996 as the European Year of Lifelong Learning ((OJ C 89, 10.4.1995, p. 123.)),

- having regard to its opinion of 16 June 1995 on the proposal for a Council Decision on a training programme for professionals in the European audiovisual programme industry Media II- Training (1996 to 2000) ((OJ C 166, 3.7.1995, p.192.)),

- having regard to its opinion of 28 March 1996 on the proposal for a Council Decision adopting a multiannual Community programme to stimulate the development of a European multimedia content industry and to encourage the use of multimedia content in the emerging information society (INFO 2000) ((OJ C 117, 22.4.1996, p. 37.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 19 September 1996 on 'Europe and the global information society - Recommendation to the European Council¨, and on a communication from the Commission: 'Europe's way to the Information Society: an action plan¨ ((OJ C 320, 28.10.1996, p.164.)),

- having regard to the Commission's White Paper; 'Growth, Competitiveness and Employment' (COM(93)0700 - C3-0509/93),

- having regard to the Comission communication on education and training in the face of technological, industrial and social challenges: first reflections (COM(94)0528),

- having regard to the Commission communication to the Council, European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a methodology for the realisation of information society applications (COM(95)0224),

- having regard to the Commission's Green Paper 'Copyright and Neighbouring Rights in the Information Society¨ (COM(95)0382 - C4-0354/95),

- having regard to the proposal for a Council Decision for the adoption of a multi-annual programme to promote linguistic diversity in the information society ((OJ C 364, 4.12.1996, p. 5.)),

- having regard to the White Paper on Education and Training, Teaching and Learning - Towards the Learning Society (COM(95)0590 - C4-0597/95),

- having regard to the interim report of the high level group of experts, 'Building the European Information Society for Us All¨,

- having regard to the first annual report to the European Commission from the Information Society Forum, 'Networks for People and their Communities - Making the most of the Information Society in the European Union',

- having regard to the interim report on the European school data network presented at the informal meeting of the Council (Education) in Amsterdam on 2 and 3 March 1997,

- having regard to the Council resolution of 4 April 1995 on culture and multimedia ((OJ C 247, 23.9.1995, p. 1.)),

- having regard to the Council resolution of 27 November 1995 on industrial aspects for the European Union in the development of the information society ((OJ C 341, 19.12.1995, p. 5. )),

- having regard to the Council resolution of 6 May 1996 on educational software and multimedia in education and training ((OJ C 195, 6.7.1996, p. 8.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 13 March 1997 on the information society, culture and education ((A4-0325/96 - OJ C - not yet published.)),

- having regard to Articles 126 and 128 of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media, and the opinions of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, the Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy and the Committee on Women's Rights, (A4-0200/97),

A. whereas there is a great discrepancy in the rates of introduction of new technologies in schools, both between and within the Member States,

B. whereas, there is a need for new technologies to be introduced into schools in a planned manner, according to educational and social goals and not technology- led; whereas it is particularly necessary to encourage young women to familiarize themselves with and use such new technologies, an aim which could be the subject of a pilot project,

C. whereas, innovative funding solutions must be sought in order to introduce and develop the use of new technologies in schools - covering hardware, software and communication costs; whereas, from this perspective, the development of educational tools such as sites (home pages) by pupils themselves, in cooperation with their teachers, is an option which should be investigated further owing to the benefits, both educational and economic, that it would yield,

D. whereas the involvement of teachers is crucial to the successful introduction and development of new technologies in the classroom,

E. whereas there is a need for high quality, user-friendly European educational software for use in primary and secondary schools,

F. whereas there is a general need for media education in order that children and adults can make sense and critically evaluate the ever-increasing amount of information which they receive, through an enlarged range of media sources,

G. whereas there is great potential, as regards people with disabilities, for using new technologies in education and at work; whereas the costs of adapting software to disabled people is very low, provided this adaptation is done in the early stages of elaboration of such products,

H. whereas limited budgetary resources for the implementation of this action plan mean that funding will need to be carefully focussed and used for projects where maximum impact and transferable experience can be achieved,

I. whereas measures could be made more effective and planned more efficiently if the various Commission departments worked in cooperation,

J. whereas the measures cannot succeed unless they are supervised while being pursued on the ground,

1. Broadly welcomes the Action Plan, and the significance it gives to the introduction and development of new communication and information technologies in primary and secondary schools, but regrets that it was submitted to Parliament at such a late stage;

2. Notes with concern however, the tendency of the Commission to 'focus' or 're- orientate' existing programmes through Action Plans and White Papers;

3. Notes that good results have been achieved in a number of Member States with projects such as 'Schulen ans Netz' and trusts that such efforts will be intensified and developed in the context of Member States' jurisdiction over cultural and educational matters;

4. Welcomes the Commission's increased efforts to coordinate programmes and financial instruments in the area of the information society and education;

5. Urges the Commission to make use of 'calls for proposals' issued jointly by several directorates-general so as to achieve an economy of scale to boost the available budget;

6. Congratulates the Commission on the work carried out by the Task Force on Educational Software and Multimedia, and notes its recommendations;

7. Is convinced that the ability to use information and communication technologies will be a crucial requirement for full participation in employment and social life in the future; calls for the teaching of at least some knowledge of the use of information and communication technologies throughout compulsory education, irrespective of the type of school and level of qualification, to prepare young people for the future demands of the labour market, to maintain equality of opportunity and to prevent social exclusion;

8. Refers to the importance of the provision of information and communication technologies throughout the EU, including remote and sparsely populated regions, for the maintenance of economic and social cohesion; reiterates, therefore, its call for schools to be given access to information and communication technologies on special terms as part of the universal telecommunication service; also calls for permanent access to distance teaching through this service; regrets the fact that the Commission's current education programmes focus in particular on young people, whereas it is precisely lifelong learning to which priority should be given in the information society; calls on the Commission to pay greater attention to training and education initiatives by means of which adults who have not grown up with information and communication technologies can be taught how to cope with the new technologies and sources of information;

9. In this regard, requests that the Commission's action plan recognize that schools, libraries and neighbourhood centres can provide learning bases for whole communities, including young people and adults from disadvantaged groups who have no private access to information and communication technologies;

10. Points out that, if there is to be a socially just information society, people of all ages and backgrounds must have access to information and communication technologies; draws attention to the increasing gap between 'those who know and those who do not know' how to use information and communication technologies and requests that priority be given to those who have the least opportunities to gain access, familiarity and skills; suggests, further, that the exchange of knowledge of the use of information and communication technologies between pupils and parents should be encouraged;

11. Calls on the Commission to encourage Member States to establish quantitative goals regarding the provision of, and access to, new technologies in schools, in line with the recommendations of the Task Force;

12. Welcomes the Action Plan's focus on primary and secondary education in recognition of the importance of familiarising children with new technologies at an early stage;

13. Takes the view that there is a risk that the information society will exacerbate the division of society in general and in the labour market, unless in the early stages of education all children are provided with access on equal terms to training in the information and communications technologies, and such access is made easier for girls and young women in particular;

14. Believes that fear of contact with information and communication technologies can be dispelled at an early age through play with these technologies; in this way, different starting conditions as between girls and boys can be avoided and a fundamental contribution made to changing the dominant image of girls as 'lacking an understanding of technology';

15. Calls for support for positive action measures in particular in developing multimedia content and teaching methods which:

- avoid gender stereotypes in society and in the workplace;

- empower girls from an early age to make use of information technology;

- provide positive role models for girls to take an active part in shaping the development of the information society;

16. Concludes that much can be achieved through the exchange of experience in this broad area, given the range of initiatives taken to date within the Member States, at national, regional and local level; notes that such exchanges may be particularly valuable in areas such as teacher training, teaching of pupils with disabilities, language learning, illiteracy;

17. Calls on the Commission to coordinate and promote this exchange of experiences, in particular using the Internet as a tool for information about all initiatives taken and experience gained within the Member States;

18. Suggests that innovatory work should be undertaken in the action plan to encourage and stimulate the involvement of excluded children, young people and adults in the information society;

19. Calls on the Commission to continue its actions to support the development of a European software and multimedia industry, which recognises and reflects the cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe;

20. Proposes that a specific budget heading be created under the Action Plan to fund translation of the best educational software and multimedia products to be developed each year;

21. Points out that education for citizenship is a subject that could be fostered through the future new educational software and multimedia products;

22. Welcomes the Commission's proposal that the production and dissemination of high-quality teaching materials should be promoted; calls on the Commission to assist small and medium-sized firms in particular and to ensure that the teachers and pupils concerned are involved in the development of educational software;

23. Is convinced that considerable importance should be attached in teaching not only to the acquisition of technical knowledge but also to the promotion of pupils' creativity, their ability to work as part of a team and the development of their talents and initiative; calls on the Commission to take account of these aspects in the promotion of educational software;

24. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up the exchange at European level of information and experience on enhancing the educational use of audiovisual and multimedia material in schools and educational establishments in order to speed up the dissemination of research findings and enable Member States and the Union, on the basis of good, positive examples, to improve the cost-effectiveness of their measures;

25. Underlines the importance of relevant initial training, continuing training and classroom support for teachers;

26. Calls upon Member States to encourage schools to form into groups and organizations to attain the benefits of scale through the ability to purchase hardware and software in larger quantities;

27. Believes that the introduction of information and communication technologies at schools must be accompanied by a thorough reform of teaching; calls on the Commission to support this reform with pure pedagogical research under the Community research policy and by assisting initial and in-service teacher training from the Structural Funds; women teachers, many of whom have been given little or no opportunity to acquire a knowledge of computers in the past, should receive particular assistance in this respect;

28. Takes the view that acceptance of the new teaching methods by parents and guardians is crucial to their success; stresses, therefore, the need to establish and develop special training schemes for parents and guardians in order to keep them informed and involve them actively in the process;

29. Calls on the Commission to encourage Member States to introduce media education into the curriculum at all levels, and in the training of teachers;

30. Notes the positive potential of using networks to link schools to other educational/cultural institutions such as libraries and museums;

31. Welcomes the initiative taken by the Member States to contribute to the implementation of the Action Plan by establishing a European school data network;

32. Suggests that a survey be compiled to identify non-governmental cultural institutions in the Member States that could provide active support to schools to help them pursue projects on the ground;

33. Calls on the Commission to encourage not only the networking of schools among themselves but also their networking with universities and the networking of universities among themselves as future places of learning and teaching for those currently in compulsory education, so that more use is made of distance teaching;

34. Calls on the Commission to increase its current efforts to prevent the new electronic media from being used to disseminate information harmful to young people;

35. Recognises the crucial role of educational and sociological research in this field and therefore welcomes the inclusion of the Targeted Socio-Economic Research Programme within the framework of the joint call for proposals;

36. Calls upon Member States and relevant authorities to encourage learning through the new information technologies, as opposed to the current predilection for learning about the new technologies;

37. Supports the Commission's principle of support for private/public partnerships and stresses the need for a code of conduct to regulate this matter so as to ensure that schools located in peripheral or socially marginalized areas are not at a disadvantage; notes that this could be a particularly fruitful area for the exchange of experience between Member States and regions;

38. Considers that EMU must be given a social dimension and that, in order to be able to safeguard the European model of free schooling in the future, action must be taken to counter the adverse effects on schools of the cuts imposed as result of the convergence criteria and the squeeze put on the funding of schools;

39. Notes that the budgetary constraints of the Action Plan should not lead to funding only for the already most technologically advanced schools, thus contributing to the creation of an élite of schools;

40. Regrets the omission from the Commission's action plan of specific references which could be used for budgetary purposes;

41. Calls on the Commission to ensure that all European Schools (Scholae Europaeae) are networked immediately;

42. Calls for a detailed evaluation of the Action Plan to take place, and serious consideration to be given to providing precise information on its objectives and implementation, including consideration of whether there is a need for a specific programme in this area;

43. Calls upon Member States to publish a mission statement for the continued and continuing application of information technology in schools, colleges, libraries and community centres;

44. Calls on the Commission to present the proposed communication on 'Vocational Training in the Information Society' at the earliest possible opportunity;

45. Calls on the Commission to make the financing arrangements provided by the various European research and education programmes for the networking of European Schools and the development of European educational software more transparent;

46. Calls for some of the appropriations resulting from the increase in the amount allocated to the current fourth RTD framework programme to be used to finance additional projects as part of the 'Education Multimedia' task force joint call for proposals of 17 December 1996;

47. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, Council and the governments of the Member States.