The acting Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Isabel Celaá, has proposed an increase in investment in education in the Council of Ministers of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport of the European Union, held in Brussels.
The acting Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Isabel Celaá, has participated in the Council of Ministers of Education, Culture and Sport of the European Union (EU), held in Brussels, in which two recommendations have been approved for the promotion of the learning of several European languages by students and the strengthening of quality education and early childhood care. "A Europe with greater social cohesion requires prioritizing investment in early childhood, education and training throughout life," said Celaá.
The European Union continues to move towards the creation of a European Area of Education as "a key piece to build inclusive and cohesive societies, and to maintain our competitiveness", the EU points out. The two recommendations approved today "carry out the main orientations" of this common non-university educational space, whose implementation is scheduled for 2025.
One of these recommendations calls on the Member States to help all young people to acquire, before completing post-compulsory secondary education, in addition to the languages of schooling, a level of proficiency in another language of the Union and sufficient skills in another European language. to interact fluently. Multilingual competition, says the EU, is the core of the idea of the European Education Area.
It is also at the core of this area, and is part of the European pillar of social rights, the right of children to enjoy affordable and good quality early childhood education and care. Therefore, the ministers have approved a proposal aimed at guaranteeing it. This second recommendation also presents, in its annex, the Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care, which is a governance tool designed to provide guidance for the development and maintenance of systems in these areas.
On the other hand, the Council presented the conclusions on the application of a previous recommendation regarding the training of adults, a debate in which Spain has been especially active and whose contributions are reflected in the aforementioned document.
In his speech, Celaá has indicated that "a Europe with greater social cohesion requires prioritizing investment in early childhood, education and training throughout life."
"The Spanish Government," he added, "places the struggle against inequality as its political priority, not only because social inequalities are unfair and inefficient, but because the populist temptation that threatens Europe is a political consequence of inequalities and inequalities. the feeling of grievance they provoke. "
The educational potential of Artificial Intelligence
During the day, holders of the Education, Culture and Sport portfolios of the EU have held a working lunch in which a debate has been addressed about the opportunities and challenges that Artificial Intelligence (AI) provides to the education sector. The minister in functions has shelled the various initiatives launched by the Government in this area, especially in Vocational Training, and stressed that "the true potential of Artificial Intelligence in the field of education arises when teachers and students become authors of solutions IA ".
"It is necessary that teachers receive specific training related to AI, that accessible educational resources are developed adapted to different educational levels and that the software is available to schools in order to help teachers design, implement and evaluate these experiences. ", explained Celaá.
During his stay in Brussels, Celaá has handed over the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X el Sabio to the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Labor Capacity and Mobility of the European Union, Marianne Leonie Petrus Thyssen. The curator has been carrying out this work since 2014.
