Recommendation on Human Capital

1. Address skills shortages in strategic sectors

• Steer actions to address skills shortages, with a focus on occupations, notably requiring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills, including ICT and AI, in sectors of strategic importance for competitiveness and resilience (such as digital and clean technology, circular economy and industrial decarbonisation, health and biotech, agriculture and fisheries-aquaculture, bioeconomy, defence industry and space).

• Strengthen fast-track as well as longer-term delivery of future-proof and labour market-relevant skills in areas of strategic importance, by fostering partnerships between education and training providers, public employment services, social partners and individual businesses as well as public bodies, including at regional and local levels.

• Reduce barriers to entry to regulated professions and take measures to promote faster recognition of qualifications in strategic sectors for EU and third-country nationals, while maintaining quality standards.

2. Strengthen basic skills to build solid foundations for higher competitiveness

• Strengthen the acquisition of literacy, mathematics (including financial literacy), science, digital, and citizenship skills from early age and throughout adulthood and all levels and types of education and training with particular attention to socio-economically disadvantaged groups and persons with disabilities, while also supporting the most talented. Take steps to reach the EU-level targets agreed under the European Education Area on students until 15 years of age underachieving in basic skills.

• Ensure equitable access to high-quality early childhood education and care as a mean to narrow achievement gaps.

• Ensure adequate incentives to increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession, especially for STEM subjects. Support initial and continuous professional development at all levels, including inclusive and gender-sensitive teaching approaches.

• Strengthen students’, apprentices’ and lifelong learners’ digital skills, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy, together with critical thinking, apply digital testing tools to monitor progress, and train teachers for technology-enhanced learning. Encourage the effective, responsible, inclusive and ethical use of AI.

• Identify challenges and address the impact of the use of digital devices on academic performance, and mental and physical well-being.

3. Strengthen Vocational Education and Training (VET)

• Boost the quality and attractiveness of VET and apprenticeships, including by tackling negative perceptions, strengthening inclusiveness for disadvantaged groups and addressing gender stereotypes, notably in STEM programmes.

• Create and implement policies or strategies to increase the proportion of initial medium-level VET learners enrolled in STEM fields, in particular the proportion of female students, and to reach at least 12%33 of VET learners participating in learning experience abroad.

• Promote a sufficient supply in particular of STEM teachers and trainers and incentivise work-based learning in cooperation with companies.

4. Improve tertiary education outcomes in STEM

• Increase capacity, relevance and attractiveness for young people of tertiary education STEM programmes (including higher-level vocational programmes), particularly in ICT and AI fields, in areas with major labour and skills gaps and in strategic areas. Promote measures to empower female students in these fields.

• Promote AI literacy and critical and strategic thinking of graduates, foster transdisciplinary approaches and enhance the internationalisation of tertiary level STEM programmes (including higher-level vocational programmes), particularly through joint transnational programmes.

5. Investment in education, training and skills

• Promote effective and efficient public spending on education and skills commensurate to the identified challenges and agreed objectives and targets, including by leveraging on cohesion policy funds, including the European Social Fund Plus.

• Promote private investment in quality upskilling and reskilling and the use of the social investment and skills policy window of InvestEU and ensure synergies with public investment.

• Regularly monitor and evaluate investments in education and skills at national, regional and local levels, using solid and tailored impact assessment and evaluation methodologies while avoiding unnecessary administrative burden. Rely where considered useful on the Voluntary Guiding Principles endorsed by the Council34, to inform evidence-based policymaking.

• Ensure the use of administrative data to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of public and private spending in education and training.

6. Skills intelligence for mastering labour market transitions

• Develop and apply methodologies for the use of big data and AI, to provide better and timelier skills intelligence, building on and complementing existing quantitative and qualitative skills intelligence sources.

• Further integrate and increase the regular use of skills intelligence in the (re-)design of national, regional and local skills and economic development strategies, in the areas of lifelong career guidance, reorientation and job transitions, as well as in future-proofing the design and the development of education and training programmes.