Promoting online education and research across national borders
Reply to Recommendation
| Doc. 15858
| 13 November 2023
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- Adopted at the 1480th meeting
of the Ministers’ Deputies (8 November 2023). 2023 - November Standing Committee (Vaduz)
- Reply to Recommendation
- : Recommendation 2250
(2023)
1. The Committee of
Ministers has carefully examined Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 2250 (2023) “Promoting online education and research across national
borders”. The recommendation has been brought to the attention of
the governments of the member States and forwarded to the relevant
committees for information and possible comments.
Note
2. The Committee of Ministers shares the views of the Assembly
in paragraph 1 of the recommendation, on the crucial role of the
right to education, as enshrined in the European Convention on Human
Rights, in creating and maintaining democratic societies and ensuring
individual and social progress.
3. With this in mind, the Committee of Ministers has recognised
the right to education as a priority for Council of Europe action
towards more inclusive democratic societies. In the Final Declaration
of the Reykjavík Summit (paragraph 18), the Heads of State and Government
of the Council of Europe underlined “the importance of education
to give children and young people the necessary references to grow
up embracing our democratic values in culturally diverse societies”.
4. In line with paragraph 4.2 of
Recommendation 2250 (2023), it is noted that the 26th Session
of the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education of the Council
of Europe took place in Strasbourg on 28 and 29 September 2023.
In order to give appropriate follow-up to the Summit, the Ministers
of Education launched the new Council of Europe Education Strategy
2030 and adopted five resolutions reaffirming the critical role
of education in promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule
of law. The Ministers recognised the need for decisive action to
address global challenges, recommitted to advancing education through
a human rights-based digital transformation and focused on a civic
renewal of education. They also encouraged the development of a
recommendation to ensure that the teaching and learning of artificial
intelligence (AI) takes into account the impact of AI on human rights,
democracy and the rule of law, and prioritises the active participation
and empowerment of teachers and learners (
Resolution No. 3).
5. The Committee underlines that, in line with paragraph 2 of
the Recommendation, the Steering Committee for Education (CDEDU)
has launched a new project on “Education in times of crises and emergencies”
within the Council of Europe Education Programme. This project aims
to identify the resilience principles of education in times of emergencies
and crises with a view to building resilient education ecosystems.
The project will develop, test and implement the Council of Europe's
toolbox based on the above principles, digitise it and make it available
to member States. Ministers also invited the CDEDU to prepare a recommendation
on the Resilience Principles for Education in Emergencies and Crises
(
Resolution No. 2)
6. The Committee of Ministers takes note of the invitation by
the Assembly, in paragraph 4.3, to update the Convention on the
Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the
European Region (ETS No. 165, Lisbon Recognition Convention), possibly
through a protocol, in order to establish common standards for the
recognition of online learning periods and qualifications.
7. The Committee of Ministers also takes note of the specific
invitation by the Assembly, in paragraph 4.4 of the Recommendation,
to support the work of the Council of Europe on library legislation
and policy in Europe, including encouragement to online learning
and research through libraries. The Committee of Ministers recalls that
its recently adopted Recommendation
CM/Rec(2023)3 on library legislation and policy in Europe emphasises
in the associated Council of Europe/EBLIDA Guidelines the role of
libraries in providing open access to information and the need to
provide access to digital content.
8. Regarding point 4.5 of the recommendation, the Committee
of Ministers shares the views of the Parliamentary Assembly on the
statutory mission of European Youth Centres and considers that a
nuanced approach should be adopted when it comes to expanding the
offer of online education programmes for young people across Europe.
In particular, it is of utmost importance that the European Youth
Centres continue to implement their important mission of providing
an inclusive physical, participative space for learning and development,
as well as the necessary educational support. Due consideration
will be given to the integration of digital solutions consistent
with this approach, such as those allowing for the organisation
of online or “hybrid” activities when needed, or the online availability
of many youth policy documents and educational resources.
9. The Committee of Ministers also takes note of the specific
invitation by the Assembly, in paragraph 4.7 of the Recommendation,
that the scope of the European Support Fund for the Co-production
and Distribution of Creative Cinematographic and Audiovisual Works
(Eurimages), as defined in the founding Resolution
Res(88)15 of the Partial Agreement and the recent amended Resolution
CM/Res(2020)8, is widened to include targeted help for the co-production
and distribution of creative and socially responsible European video
and computer games, designed to help an interactive learning process.
10. The Committee of Ministers underlines the work undertaken
by the CDEDU on this field. The Digital Citizenship Education project
promotes a positive video game culture by generating pedagogical
reflection around video games. A series of initiatives to be held
in 2023 includes online webinars called “EduTalks” on gender roles
in video games, on migrants and on the links with the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals.
11. The Committee of Ministers finally recalls that, in line with
paragraph 4.8 of the Recommendation, Education Ministers launched
the “2025 European Year of Digital Citizenship Education” at the
26th Conference of Ministers of Education,
with possible co-operation and co-financing with partner institutions
and national institutions through voluntary contributions.
