Summary by the Co-Chairs

Summary by the Co-Chairs

Re-building an inclusive and equitable society through education

OECD Education and Skills Ministerial, 7-8 December 2022

Summary by the Co-Chairs

Text issued under the responsibility of the Co-Chairs Minister Ola Borten Moe (Norway), Minister João Costa (Portugal), Deputy-Minister Jubum Na (Korea).

MEETING OF THE EDUCATION POLICY COMMITTEE (EDPC) AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL 7-8 DECEMBER 2022

CO-CHAIRS’ SUMMARY

Ministers of Education and Skills and High Level Representatives of the 38 OECD Member countries and the European Union and those of Brazil, Bulgaria, People’s Republic of China, Croatia, Peru and Romania, with Representatives of intergovernmental organisations (Council of Europe, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO]) and stakeholders (Business at OECD [BIAC] and Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD [TUAC]) gathered in Paris on 7-8 December 2022 to discuss how their education and skills systems and policies will need to be reformed to ensure education and training contribute to meeting the global challenges ahead. The meeting under the theme “Re-building an inclusive and equitable society through education” took place under the guidance of the Co-Chairs, Minister Ola Borten Moe (Norway), Minister João Costa (Portugal), Deputy-Minister Jubum Na (Korea), and the Vice-Chairs, Minister Tõnis Lukas (Estonia), Minister Li Andersson (Finland), Assistant Minister Naoko Okamura (Japan) and Secretary General for Higher Education Ioannis Zoras (Greece). The meeting was moderated by Hekia Parata, former Minister of Education of New Zealand The meeting began with opening remarks from the OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, who elaborated on the role that education and skills systems play in securing opportunity-rich, fair and cohesive societies, consistent with strong, sustainable economic growth.

In his opening remarks, Minister Ola Borten Moe (Minister of Research and Higher Education, Norway) highlighted the shared challenges faced by OECD Member countries in adapting to the digital transition and the climate crisis and tackling inequalities in their societies. The meeting addressed a range of issues in plenary sessions, in a working lunch and in six breakout groups. Ensuring resilient and equitable education systems build the foundations of inclusive and equitable societies was discussed during the plenary opening. Discussions in breakout groups addressed equity and inclusion in education in a whole-person perspective; the role of digitalisation to strengthen relevance and inclusion in education; meeting learners’ cognitive, social and emotional needs and rethinking schools’ organisation for relevance, equity and inclusion; foundations for lifelong learning, from birth through work and beyond; integrating the world of learning with the world of work; and alternative credentials and providers as drivers of inclusive lifelong learning and as an instrument to modernise education. The working lunch, hosted by Greece, focused on education for sustainable development. A dinner session, hosted by Canada, Estonia, and Finland, focused on reimagining educational partnerships for equity and inclusion. The Co-Chairs acknowledge the informative and productive discussions that took place on these issues, and many others, and thank all Ministers and guests for their participation. They also thank Hekia Parata for her moderation of the meeting. This summary does not intend to be exhaustive and just outlines some points made by Ministers during the meeting.

Ministers explored different approaches to policy formulation and implementation, with some Ministers emphasising the value of strong centralised equity policies and others stressing the importance of giving adequate flexibility to educational institutions to implement local solutions. Some stressed the importance of approaches to curriculum design that adequately balance knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to ensure schools can deliver learning programmes that reflect and respond to the diverse needs of all students. A number of Ministers highlighted that targeted measures for educational institutions serving less advantaged populations must be a central part of strategies to reduce inequalities in educational opportunity, noting, in particular, widening access to quality early childhood education and care and tackling early school leaving. Some of them also underlined that high-quality vocational education and training at upper-secondary and post-secondary level plays a vital role in linking education to the world of work and in meeting a broader range of learner needs. Some Ministers further noted that education is about developing skills for a life of learning, both for work as well as for citizenship and a

sustainable future; and that, from this perspective, the question of how to foster the right mix of cognitive, social and emotional skills required more attention in education policy agendas. Several Ministers also raised the need to strengthen evidence on the economic case for education and on policies targeting improved equity in education.

A number of Ministers underlined the importance to tackle barriers to effective lifelong learning, which starts at an early age, to ensure that people are able to respond to the needs of a rapidly changing world and highlighted the large needs for upskilling and reskilling, especially for some groups such as older workers, those with skillsets at high risk of automation, and vulnerable workers. Some Ministers underscored the importance of embracing new innovations, such as micro-credentials and individual learning accounts, and digital technologies to harness to their potential to better tailor learning opportunities to the needs of all individuals. Several Ministers also highlighted the importance of information, guidance, and exposure to the world of work to help build career aspirations and motivation to learn.

Ministers recognised the importance of digital skills as key life skills for the present and the future, but also that these skills build on foundational literacy and numeracy skills. Digital skills have become vital to ensure that all individuals can contribute to modern societies. A number of Ministers also underlined that, as a result of digitalisation and automation of many tasks, it becomes crucial to invest in creativity, problem-solving, citizenship education, and a wide range of other knowledge and skills to promote people's employability as well as their personal health and well-being Some further emphasised the key role of technology to provide personalised learning opportunities, including for learners with special education needs or those who face other barriers to learning in traditional settings, which requires investment in educators’ capacity and strategic funding and procurement of infrastructure. A number of Ministers sought guidance and evidence on best practices for how to collaborate with the private sector around digitalisation in service of the public good of education. Some further stressed the need to develop effective regulatory environments that foster an innovation-friendly eco-system and create a level playing field that reconciles the value of data and learning analytics with privacy and that is governed by ethics and transparency.

A number of Ministers emphasised the need to strengthen education for sustainable development across stages of education. This needs to go beyond embedding this topic in curricula to strengthening student agency to act on sustainability challenges (e.g. through developing their scientific knowledge and involving them in decisionmaking); and engaging in environmentally-friendly day-to-day school operations (e.g. greening of education buildings). Some Ministers added that the approach to the green transition needs to be fair and inclusive to ensure that it does not grow inequities

Ministers recognised the value of the OECD in providing the evidence and space for countries to learn from each other – a “venue for lifelong learning among policy-makers”. They also signalled the need, at a time of uncertainty and change, for education and skills Ministers to convene more frequently at Ministerial level.

Ministers from all OECD Members, the European Union, and Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania adopted the Declaration on Building Equitable Societies Through Education [OECD/LEGAL/0485], reiterating their commitment to building more equitable societies through education and training, to reimagining education and to supporting skills for the future and invited the OECD, through the Education Policy Committee (EDPC) to reinforce its work in these areas.

Minister Ola Borten Moe (Minister of Research and Higher Education, Norway) closed the meeting by expressing the hope that the energy witnessed during the Ministerial would continue and that, having provided the EDPC with significant orientations for future work through the Declaration, Ministers would support EDPC’s work ahead by providing strategic guidance and regular review.