Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Europe is not alone in this but the case is clear nonetheless: "The youth unemployment rate is close to 23% across the European Union – yet at the same time there are more than 2 million vacancies that cannot be filled." Unfortunately, they are moving in what i think is exactly the wrong direction: "Rethinking Education calls for a fundamental shift in education, with more focus on 'learning outcomes' - the knowledge, skills and competences that students acquire. Merely having spent time in education is no longer sufficient. In addition, basic literacy and numeracy still needs to be significantly improved, and entrepreneurial skills and a sense of initiative need to be developed or strengthened." This strategy is a hedge. It attempts to deflect the need for more education and social spending, especially in struggling economies. Instead, it focuses on targeting education funding toward outcomes. Not only will this not produce outcomes, it will weaken existing education funding. This is a recipe, in my view, for deepening the divide between rich and poor, the very divide that is the cause of the education gap in the first place.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 9:31 p.m.

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