Highly skilled workers will help growth in EU

Speaking Tuesday at a press conference in Strasbourg where she presented the “Rethinking Education" initiative, Vasiliou noted that youth unemployment is approaching 23% across Europe and at the same time there are over 2 million job vacancies.

She added that in 2011, 13.5% of students in the EU dropped out of school after lower secondary education and in 9 member states, more than half of the adult population has no or low computer skills.

Vasiliou underlined that Europe will only resume growth by producing highly skilled workers who can contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship.

She added that fundamental to this direction is the efficient investment in education and training, calling on all member states to address the challenge of improving education and training while consolidating public finance.

According to Vasiliou, the Commission has created individual country analyses and the new annual Education and Training Monitor which provides detailed information about the performance of education systems and skills supply, at both EU and national levels.

She also called on member states to invest in quality, accessibility and funding.

“If we are to combat youth unemployment, the link between education systems and labour market must be strengthened at all levels,” she stressed.

She also referred to the need for foreign language skills, as they open up new opportunities, entrepreneurship education, distance learning and training of teachers.