Green light for the New Skills Agenda

“We are glad that many elements of the report on the New Skills Agenda for Europe accepted in the latest parliamentary session support the education policies of the Orbán Government. Developments regarding e-skills and the modernization of vocational training systems have all been a priority in Hungary since 2010, said Fidesz MEPs Andrea Bocskor and Ádám Kósa following the vote.

Several years ago, the Hungarian government developed and today realizes comprehensive national strategies on digital skills and developments concerning e-skills. Today, 270 billion HUF in EU funds are available for the period 2014-2020, out of which the government is spending 125 billion on infrastructure development. This, in the first place, means new schools and the renovation of older schools, equipping them with a fundamentally renewed educational toolkit. The remaining part is allocated for content development, for instance digital curriculum and drawing up the new National Core Curriculum. Moreover, a significant amount is used for developing digital capacity of schools outside of the central region, expanding the stock of mobile electronic devices available for use by schools, and providing training opportunities to teachers in the use of new digital content and devices.

In accordance with the EP report suggestions, the crucial efforts have already been made by the Hungarian government to concentrate on basic skills and to put emphasis on skills in connection with science, technology, technical science, mathematics and entrepreneurship. The report reconfirms the need for modernization of European vocational training systems and that the dualistic vocational training systems and the value of work-based learning shall be upgraded.

“Youth of today face many challenges, and those skills and abilities, which they adapt in their family and school environment, for instance teamwork, leadership skills, entrepreneurship, empathy, adaptability, and creativity may be a great help in countering them,” said Andrea Bocskor, Vice-Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education.

Teachers and tutors play a key role in the performance of students. “It’s important to motivate and support educators, to invest in the ongoing professional training of teachers, so they achieve good results in their profession as they equip the future generation with the proper knowledge,” the EPP MEP added.

On the initiation of Ádám Kósa, the report declares that among people with disabilities, not only the physically disabled but all those with disabilities of any kind (e.g., visual, auditory) shall have access to education provided.

Background: The New Skills Agenda for Europe was presented by the European Commission in 2016. It aims to make education and training systems fit the rapidly changing economic and social environment. It puts emphasis on the immediate needs of the labor market: education has to concentrate on those aspects, which promote entrepreneurship and creativity. The basic purpose behind that is that inequalities apparent in the early and primary education system had become almost unmanageable across Europe.