Comparative report
Introduction
Quality education equips young people with the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to thrive in life and to cope with the various challenges they will face172. Parts 1 and 2 of this report already touched upon a number of important dimensions of quality education, such as learning mobility, teaching and the way equitable education and training systems feed into quality learning for all. Part 3 looks at educational achievement173 as a proxy for quality education and an illustration of the kind of learning that is behind the educational credentials, diplomas and certificates mentioned in Part 2.
The final part of this report aims to broaden the focus on reading, maths and science and to expand coverage to other key competences in a lifelong learning perspective. Such an approach may, over time, reveal common characteristics and synergies that can improve our education and training systems. The 2018 Council Recommendation on key competences for lifelong learning singles out eight broad domains: (1) literacy; (2) multilingualism; (3) mathematics (and science, technology and engineering); (4) digital; (5) personal, social and learning to learn; (6) citizenship; (7) entrepreneurship; and (8) cultural awareness and expression. Not all of these key competence domains lend themselves easily to cross-EU comparisons, but the quantitative and qualitative evidence is improving 174.
The Recommendation also refers to numerous ‘horizontal enablers’ that can be expected to benefit the development of most – if not all – key competences in an education and training system. Such enablers include cross-discipline learning, whole school approaches, learner continuity, cross-sectorial cooperation, the active participation and decision making of learners, guidance and support for innovative learning methodologies175, and competence-oriented approaches in initial teacher education, continuing professional development and staff exchanges.
The 2020 Commission Communication on achieving the European Education Area by 2025 continues the work on these ‘horizontal enablers’, and introduces additional enablers such as micro-credentials176. The 2020 Commission Communication on the European Skills Agenda strengthens the focus on the digital and green transition (see Chapter 8), while adding objectives on adult learning and the digital skills of the adult population. The European Skills Agenda also adds further ‘horizontal enablers’ such as individual learning accounts177.
Box 20. Learning losses due to physical school closures
While there is no comparable EU-level evidence, national studies show large variation in the impacts of physical school closures on learning progress. This reflects considerable cross-country variation in the intensity of the pandemic, length and extent of school closures, different modes of distance or hybrid learning adopted, readiness to move towards online learning (and its efficiency), and also the type, scope and timing of measures adopted to mitigate learning loss.
The magnitude of reported learning loss varied significantly by country, subject, level of education, and school closure length. Declines were recorded in the Flemish Community of Belgium (maths and Dutch among sixth grade students), Italy (maths among primary school students), the Netherlands (maths, spelling and reading among students in grade 4-7) and Germany (reading comprehension, operations and numeracy among fifth grade students). Other national studies found less conclusive evidence or no evidence at all of learning loss. In addition, there may have been some learning recovery during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic in countries that recorded learning losses in 2020.
Some pre-COVID-19 studies suggest that remedial measures could be effective in addressing educational disruption. In a March 2021 survey on COVID-19, 76% of participating Member States reported providing remedial measures to reduce learning loss at upper secondary level. These included specific supports for students in upper secondary grades ending with a national examination (65% of Member States) and for students in programmes with a vocational orientation (53%). In addition, 71% of countries reported introducing specific measures for disadvantaged students. More than 60% of Member States introduced supports for students at risk of early school leaving or grade repetition, as well as for students unable to access distance learning. Remedial actions were often preceded by an assessment of the gaps in student learning (71% of countries).
Source: Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) review 2022.
Notes
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172 See the 2020 Commission Communication on achieving the European Education Area by 2025.
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173 In a cross-EU assessment, educational achievement is often measured using large scale assessments from the OECD and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).
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174A 2022 study provides an overview of major reforms in the development of key competences across all Member States and a deep dive into reform processes in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Slovakia.
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175 Including access to centres of expertise, tools and materials.
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176Including access to centres of expertise, tools and materials.
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177See the 2022 Council Recommendation on individual learning accounts. Chapter 6 features examples in Box 18.