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Learning EU at school

2015/2138(INI)

The Committee on Culture and Education adopted the own-initiative report by Damian DRĂGHICI (S&D, RO), entitled ‘Learning EU at school’.

According to a 2014 Eurobarometer opinion poll, 44 % of European Union citizens feel that they have limited understanding of how the EU works and 52 % of Europeans believe that their voice does not count in the EU: only 42.61 % of EU citizens, and only 27.8 % of 18-24 year-olds, voted in the last European Parliament elections.

Members considered that an insufficient knowledge about the EU and poor understanding of its concrete added value might contribute to the perception of a democratic deficit and lead to widespread Euroscepticism. In order to tackle the growing gap between the voice of European citizens and the EU institutions, the report recommended the following:

A European dimension in education: Members emphasised that a EU dimension in education is crucial to help citizens better understand – and reconnect them with – the EU. An EU dimension in education should enable learners not only to acquire knowledge and develop a sense of belonging and European citizenship skills, but also to engage in a critical reflection on the EU, through learning about EU fundamental values, based on the rule of law and human rights, EU governance and decision-making processes.

Members encouraged the use of European Youth Parliament role-play games to help children and students understand the European processes and raise their awareness of European issues.

The report made the following recommendations, inter alia:

  • the EU should be more visible, and better integrated, in teaching materials and extracurricular activities;
  • active and participative teaching methods should be tailored to learners’ age, and levels, exploiting fully the opportunities offered by the information and communication technologies and the media, including social media;
  • teachers should be provided with appropriate support and resources in order to enable them to incorporate an EU dimension into their teaching;
  • multi-lingual and intercultural competences of educators should be promoted and encouraged, as well as mobility opportunities, peer-to-peer learning and exchanges of best practices among teaching staff, for instance through the organisation of European-level seminars;
  • options for specialised qualification courses within universities should be provided.

Stressing the importance and the potential of a European approach to the teaching of history, Members called on the Commission and the Member States to support history societies and centres for historical research, in order to highlight the value of their scientific contribution to European history and their role in keeping schoolteachers up to date.

The role of the Union: in this regard, the report asked the Commission to:

  • continue its support for efforts to develop and promote an EU dimension in education as well as the mobility of educational actors;
  • actively disseminate information – including information on relevant funding opportunities and available studies and reports – to key stakeholders and citizens; 
  • provide a common framework, and to prepare guidelines with concrete examples, for learning about the EU, while respecting Member States' competence in the field of education and training;
  • encourage further research to ascertain how the EU is currently taught in schools across Europe, and how it features in curricula and exams;
  • facilitate networks that promote learning about the EU at national, regional and local level, as well as exchanges of best practice between these networks at Union level;
  • ensure increased and adequate financial support for Erasmus+, Europe for Citizens and Creative Europe, which play an important role in strengthening European citizenship;
  • monitor closely the impact of all EU programmes on developing participants’ sense of citizenship and civic participation.

The report highlighted the role that the information offices of the European institutions play in fostering relations with educational institutions, and with youth organisations and media, in order to bring them closer to each other and to ensure that young people understand the role the institutions play in their daily lives.

The role of Member States: the latter were asked to:

  • support, and update their education systems with a view to strengthening the EU dimension in close collaboration with all relevant actors, while strongly encouraging regions and local authorities to do the same;
  • support all possibilities of conveying more information about the EU to learners as well as to teachers and other educators through formal, non-formal and informal learning;
  • take further action to promote intercultural, non-discriminatory and inclusive education and citizenship values in school and university curricula;
  • involve migrants, refuges and faith communities in respectful and empowering citizenship-building processes, ensuring their participation in civic and cultural life;
  • acknowledge and support social partners and civil society organisations, in particular youth organisations, in bridging the gap between the EU institutions and the European citizens.

The report asked Member States to encourage high-quality training on EU topics for teachers, by allowing them to spend part of their training in another Member State, and by ensuring the recognition of their qualification to teach about the EU, for example by creating and promoting a ʻEuro Teacherʼ label award.