The EYCS (Education, Youth, Culture and Sports) Council has approved a set of conclusions on investing in Europe’s young, with a focus on education and employment opportunities. The conclusions were adopted by all member states during the Council’s education meeting, which took place yesterday in Brussels.

The council meeting, chaired by the Minister for Education and Employment Evarist Bartolo, discussed measures to mitigate educational inequalities due to the socio-economic disparities, as shown by the 2015 PISA results. They also considered how education and training programs of the EU member states could be improved through the establishment of national and European objectives. This discussion was inspired by the Council’s conclusion document ‘Inclusion in Diversity’, presented by the Maltese Presidency during the EYCS Council.

The conclusion includes a number of measures aimed at improving young people’s skills in the light of the growing skills gap challenges that Europe is facing, as well as incentives towards employment growth among young people, and learning mobility.

EU education ministers emphasised that education policies play a fundamental role in promoting inclusion and respect for diversity in the European Union and that the fundamental values of the EU and the European education model must be preserved. Ensuring inclusive high-quality education should also be perceived as a life-long journey covering all aspects of education.

Minister Evarist Bartolo emphasized that ‘‘improving our education and training systems is critical, not only because it can generate economic benefits and reduce unemployment, but also because it promotes social mobility and remains one of the best means of preventing social exclusion. Education in itself cannot do all, it needs economic, social and financial support’’.

Ministers for Education, Youth, Culture and Sports, together with Commissioner Tibor Navracsics positively welcomed the recommendations presented in the council conclusion document put forward by the Maltese Presidency. Both the Commissioner and the Council commented positively on the relevance and the high-quality document prepared by Malta. They also identified the importance that the document gives to the improvement of having an inclusive education. This theme gave way to a fruitful debate among ministers, which was characterised by frankly exchanging the current challenges in education and best practices vis-à-vis a more inclusive education system.