Pearson
Engagement with EU political and policy stakeholders around education and skills policy issues
ID: 971019046407-33
Lobbying Activity
Response to European Year of Skills 2023
14 Dec 2022
The European Commissions decision to designate 2023 as the European Year of Skills comes at the most opportune moment when Europe needs a highly skilled workforce to meet the growing demands of its labour market arising from the green and digital transition. As a digital education provider and a signatory to the Pact for Skills, Pearson is committed to support the EUs goal of closing Europes skills gap by 2030. Providing greater access to inclusive educational products and skills intelligence tools that match peoples talents to current labour market trends are not only long-term objectives of the Commissions European Skills Agenda, but also at the heart of Pearsons mission. In this context, we would like to put forward the following recommendations which we believe would help the promotion of upskilling and reskilling opportunities for European citizens: Encouraging EU member states to increase investments in vocational education at all levels. While national governments are not the main providers of vocational training opportunities, they can influence the quality of training through public financing. With targeted investment support, industries are also more likely to invest in vocational training for their workforce, as this often involves additional costs that some businesses may not be able to entirely cover themselves. Recognising the importance of data in identifying countries skills gaps and designing employment policies. The use of data-driven skills intelligence tools to identify current skills gaps and predict future labour market trends should be embedded into national skills and employment strategies. Comprehensive skills analytics and tools could help policymakers better understand the impact of key drivers (COVID-19, green transition, automation, etc.) on the workforce and equip them with the necessary knowledge to adopt targeted policy measures to reduce existing and future skills gaps. Promoting the recognition of micro-credentials across different national qualification frameworks. While education policy is a member state competence, the Commission plays an important role in guiding national governments on how to integrate micro-credentials into their national education and qualification systems. One way in which the Commission could support this is by encouraging information sharing among national authorities and learning providers through platforms, such as the Pact for Skills. Example: Pearson offers a wide variety of internationally recognized qualifications in vocational training and quality assessment (QA) frameworks for external assessment. In our work with the state Dutch colleges we are providing BTEC qualifications as a benchmark of international achievement. The BTEC qualifications at European levels 3, 4 and 5 are awarded to learners in the Netherlands that study and are assessed in English. This international qualification is required for the centres to have TTO status (sitting on the NUFFIC register of centres approved to run international qualifications). Pearson is also planning to use digital badging to be sent to learners on completing specific units, which would allow them to post their skills/competences/knowledge onto social media/work platforms. This gives a clearer overview of their skill sets, providing employers with a better understanding of their abilities.
Read full responseMeeting with Anouk Faber (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)
30 Nov 2022 · Meeting on skills policies such as vocational, education and training and the upcoming Year of Skills.
Meeting with Alina-Stefania Ujupan (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager)
8 Jun 2022 · Digital skills and education.