Action Plan on Basic Skills
Summary
The plan will lift literacy, numeracy, science, digital and citizenship skills, tackling underachievement. A Basic Skills Support Scheme will pilot interventions with EU funding, from early identification and tutoring to school-level improvement plans. A European Innovative School Award will recognise innovation and partnerships with businesses and local authorities. The Commission will pilot university–business partnerships via Erasmus+, Digital Europe and EIT to train for shortage sectors and co-develop micro-credentials. The plan will expand the European Alliance for Apprenticeships to 700 pledges and streamline the Pact for Skills (linking EU Skills Academies, CoVEs and European Universities) to double 25-million upskilling commitments.
Action items
Pilot a Basic Skills Support Scheme in 2026.
Draw up guidelines for policymakers in 2025 as a preparatory step for the Support Scheme.
Pilot the first European School Alliances through the Erasmus+ programme in 2026. This will boost strategic European cooperation in school education, serving as testbeds for innovative teaching methods, curricula and competence frameworks, particularly for basic skills. The Alliances will support participating schools in becoming learning organisations for effective basic skills teaching, including in cooperation with local authorities.
Develop guidelines for curriculum development in early childhood education and care, which support the acquisition of basic skills early on and facilitate early detection and intervention of developmental delays.
Develop guidelines and best practices on advancing the assessment of digital skills in education in 2026 to help compare standards of digital skills assessments in schools across the EU.
Pilot innovative approaches for personalised learning pathways in basic skills development through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, building on 2026 Erasmus+ policy experimentations, to support top-performing and underachieving learners.
Update the Digital Competence Framework (DigComp) in 2025, taking into account new technologies such as General Purpose AI, to support learners in developing basic and advanced digital skills.
Develop guidelines on enhancing basic skills in VET through: (i) integrating literacy, numeracy, digital, and citizenship skills in VET curricula; (ii) using effective teaching methods such as problem-solving and scenario-based learning; (iii) implementing appropriate assessment and quality assurance measures.
Create a toolkit for basic skills, including basic digital skills, in apprenticeships in 2026 to provide hands-on guidance for VET schools and employers to integrate basic skills in their apprenticeship programmes.
Set out an EU Teachers and Trainers Agenda in 2026. It will focus on improving educators’ working conditions, training and career prospects, including in early childhood education and care. It will aim to break the vicious circle of low attractiveness and sustainability of careers, which has led in particular to a shortage of STEM teachers and a drop in basic skills.
Set up, in 2025, a new community of practice of Erasmus+ Teacher Academies – the European partnerships between teacher education institutions and training providers – on the European School Education Platform. The action will foster collaboration among the 43 Erasmus+ Teacher Academies to identify and disseminate relevant, applicable knowledge and share innovative practices to amplify high-quality teacher training, including on basic skills.
Pilot a mentoring system for early career teachers in all subjects by 2026 to effectively integrate basic skills development into their teaching practices.
Promote job shadowing for education policymakers through Erasmus+ in 2026, which will increase their learning mobility, including to countries with high scores in international assessment tests.
Expand EU online communities for educators (European School Education Platform, including eTwinning) in 2025, which reach 400,000 participants, providing better professional learning opportunities, evidence-based tools, material and resources on effective basic skills teaching and assessment. Provide high-quality material for educators, parents, teachers and youngsters, including on cybersecurity, through the Better Internet for Kids initiative.
Promote high-quality learning material on digital skills by practicing teachers through the EU Code Week activities, aiming at 100,000 activities per year.
Engage volunteers under the European Solidarity Corps in 2026 for mentoring and tutoring activities for underachieving children and adults as part of the ‘Volunteering Teams in High Priority Areas’ strand. The programme will recruit a diverse group of volunteers to assist and inspire children in their academic and social development while also promoting intergenerational solidarity by enriching the experiences of both the volunteers and the children they mentor.
Launch an EU literacy coalition in 2026, involving governments, businesses and libraries, to create a community around literacy, raise awareness about the literacy crisis and encourage young people, in particular boys, to read for pleasure.
Organise peer-learning activities for Member States on innovative community learning spaces to help develop adults’ basic skills.