
The increasing digitalisation of society and the workplace will have many consequences for the next generation of workers, both in terms of education and employment. Skills which were once considered essential by employers are likely to evolve, creating new ways of working and communicating, especially considering the growing influence of social media.
Youth unemployment remains a key concern in Europe, particularly in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, and so measures are being put in place to improve employment opportunities for young people across all member states.
So, now it’s over to you: What can we do to ensure better education and employment prospects for young people across Europe?
- If you were an MEP, what would you do to help improve education and youth employment across Europe?
- How should the European Parliament act to combat the emergence of a Covid-19 “lockdown generation”?
- What do you think will be the essential skills that European employers expect from young candidates entering into the world of work?
- How important a role will Artificial Intelligence (AI) play in the education and employment of the future generation of workers?
Euroscola session
Education and Youth Employment
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Artificial intelligence will rid us of hard, repetitive and non-fulfilling work. Thanks to this, we will be able to engage in activities that make a person human. Of course, this cannot be done without temporary turbulence in the labor market. That is why it is important that this topic is discussed and understood by each of us. Of course, education will also need to be adapted to this. Subjects that will soon be replaced by artificial intelligence, such as the profession of radiology, need to be phased out. On the other hand, more artificial intelligence developers will be needed, so teaching this field will need to be made more attractive so that aspiring students will be interested. It can serve physicians in improving the diagnosis and development of treatments for previously incurable diseases; can reduce energy consumption by optimizing resources; can contribute to a cleaner living environment by reducing the need for pesticides; can help refine weather forecasts and anticipate disasters, etc. The list is basically endless. Artificial intelligence will be the main thing driving economic growth and increasing productivity and contributing to sustainability, and viability of the industrial base in Europe. Artificial intelligence changes the world just like in the past a steam engine or electricity.
We forget a lot of what we study and we end up losing time at school with too much theory.
We could use that time doing more pratical activities and preparing us for what the labor market expect for us.
Insert simulations of real issues that might come up at work in schools, and progressively make mandatory for the universities to have internships for their students.
This measure would help bridge the absence of a first professional experience, which is very important since we find very hard to actually work and study at the same time, and when we try to get a job we are constantly asked for professional experience, because what we studied wasn't enough.
The fact that I already know which course I'm going to follow is partly due to the internships I've done. I think internships are much more important than most people think. I did several internships myself before I was 16 years old and that helped me enormously in finding my interests.
Almost everyone who hears about my internships thinks it's special that I did something like that, but I think doing internships should become normal. All students should have the opportunity to do an internship before their 18th birthday. I'm not talking about useless internships of one or two days, but longer internships of at least a week.
Let the students choose their own internship location and help if necessary. If the students can't find anything themselves, make sure that they can at least go to a partner company. The government should fund the internships if necessary.
An internship in New York has changed my life. I would like other students to have the same opportunity.
This is not an issue just confined to the younger generations, everyone who is employed needs to ensure they can keep up with the technology that they are using. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many industries to introduce more technology, but this may be at the expense of many jobs. There is an ever growing demand for people with coding skills, social media skills, even typing skills, and if young people are unable to meet that demand due to a lack of the necessary skills, they will find it increasingly difficult to find employment. I feel that the EU needs to put a larger focus on improving opportunities for young people to gain these skills. AI is by no means the “bad guy” here, but if Europe is unable to grow and develop along with the technology, it will be the younger generations who will feel the brunt of the repercussions.
In my opinion, the five most essential skills that European employers will expect from young candidates entering into the world of work are; emotional intelligence, creativity, flexibility and tech-savviness
Employers will be expecting young candidates to be emotionally intelligent. Young people must have the ability to understand and express their own emotions, as well as understand someone else’s emotions. There are so many jobs that involve and will continue to involve interacting with people. Despite the fact that we are moving into a digitally led era, I believe that human interaction and emotional intelligence will continue to be a necessity in the European workplace.
Many jobs rely on employees to be creative. European employers will expect young candidates to have the ability to be creative, imagine, and invent new products.
We live in a very changeable society and so, future employees will need to be flexible and adaptable, as well as having an openness to learn new information. Everyone will need to build their flexibility and adaptability skills and accept new ways of doing things. I think that workers will no longer enter an occupation and remain in the same position throughout their career. Young people must have the willingness to accept new challenges. This makes being flexible and adaptable imperative skills.
Technology has never been so prevalent in every career as it is now. We are constantly seeing improvements and developments in the area of technology. Therefore, young people must be tech-savvy. Everyone needs to understand what these changes are, how fast these different technologies are developing, and what that means for their career. Due to the current situation, many employees can operate from their home via networking platforms. In my view, this will be the most important skill for future European candidates to have.
Is the virus connected in any way to climate change?Will there be any others after this one as a consenquence of the damages we’re causing?
How can we raise awareness and make sure that everyone is doing anything possible to prevent causing more issues?
Is there a way to combine environmentally friendly solutions to affordable prices for everyone?
Is there any chance we can still save our world or do you think at this point we’re just hopeless?
Why do you think that climate change seems to lose more and more its importance?
Our educational systems should be educating us on this. I propose the following (somewhat rough) idea: The EU leaders should contact a team of educational, pedagogical and technical experts to design and create a series of lessons/ classes/ instructions about the EU. For example, how it impacts our daily lives, what a democracy is and what are the requirements that have to be met to be one of the countries to join the EU.
This can be formed in an interactive ‘workshop’ package for elementary schools (age 9-12), high schools (14-18), and educational studies (teachers), varying in difficulty and complexity. The ‘workshops’ can consist of videos, texts or activating teaching methods targeting skills such as communication, debating and critical thinking. When completing the lesson series all students should get an EU qualification certificate for participation.
By doing this, we will finally close the EU gap. We will educate the youth on the society and democracy they live in. We will educate them about the democratic system and how the EU influences their daily lives, and why it is important ( when the times comes) to show up for EU elections.
In fact one of the most required skills is the ability of working in group.
I truly believe that every country (and EU in general) should educate its citizens in order to develop their soft skills by encouraging them to discover what they can do better than others.
I also think that every country should educate their citizens in order to let them understand how AI works and how to adapt themselves to these new jobs .
In fact , today we know that when a job is substituted by artificial intelligence or machines in general , we lost a certain number of jobs , but on the other hand , we create new jobs.
Ylenia's thoughts: "I think that Erasmus is an exciting thing because I consider the thought of being able to travel abroad to study a beautiful experience... unfortunately I haven't been able to try it yet, but who knows, maybe one day I will have the opportunity, obviously I hope to be able to try it as soon as possible. Many people who have had the opportunity to try it have always said that it is a great experience, but it is totally different to hear it from others, than it is to try it in the first place."
Arianna’s thoughts:” Personally, whenever I hear someone talk about Erasmus I get excited and start to think about possible opportunities for me. I have always dreamed of studying abroad and I believe firmly that Erasmus could give every single person amazing experiences and opportunities. Studying abroad is very important, because you can explore various places, get to know multiple cultures and learn the language even better. It is also important for your Curriculum Vitae, as it helps you find a job easily. Lately, I have begun to study Japanese and I would love to study there for a few months, and knowing that Erasmus can give me this chance, makes me feel at ease and full of joy. I cannot wait to experience such thing. Also, I think it is a great way to get to know new people. Even better right? Studying in another place while making new friends, experiencing new things and seeing new landscapes, what could be better than that?”
Marika’s thoughts:”in my opinion, Erasmus is an important occasion, it enables you to travel and therefore get to know other countries, other cultures and learn the languages better. There is also the possibility to find a job. Besides it allows people to be more unattached.”
Carmen’s thoughts:”Erasmus is an excellent opportunity that gives you the chance to work abroad. Thanks to that, it makes life easier because it also offers you to study with an excellent preparation and therefore it gives you the possibility of finding work abroad.”
Giulia’s thoughts:”I wouldn’t change anything about Erasmus. It gives you new experiences and new places to visit. And, of course, studying there in a different environment, surrounded by new people, makes it all special and unforgettable.”
Questions:
1. How do you apply for Erasmus?
2. Are there any activities other than the usual ones for Universities?
3. Are there any privileges for Erasmus students?
4. How do you obtain a scholarship through Erasmus+ to do my postgraduate?
5. What about Youth Exchanges?
6. Could you explain how the traineeships for students work?
7. Can disabled people participate too?
How to reconcile the two things?
Secondly, communication should be made essential when searching for a possible employee. As our world is becoming more diverse, being able to communicate with people from different nationalities will be utterly crucial. Despite more technology being introduced into workplaces, communication will still be necessary, even if it is for a phone call. Therefore, schools should encourage second-level students to focus more on their language subjects, as it would give them more opportunity to converse with others in years to come.
Finally, in my opinion, being able to co-operate while also being able to work independently are equally important while entering the world of work. No matter what profession you go into, teamwork and/or the ability to work with others is vital. By promoting teamwork to students, it will allow them to see the importance of valuing each others opinions and choosing what would be best for their situation. This would tie in with real-life scenarios as teamwork opens the amount of options available, allowing workers to choose the best outcome. However, on the flip side, independent work is critical in certain contexts. By having the ability to work independently, it proves how resilient and determined a candidate is. These characteristics would certainly be useful in a job, no matter what. As a result, I feel independent learning and teamwork should be introduced, providing students with an understanding of how important these two skills really are.
Another idea could be if schools linked with local businesses to encourage employment. this could be done by adding job boards where employers advertise upcoming job positions. This would help students gain valuable workplace experience which will help them upskill in the future.
– How would you change the proportion between the practical and theoretical subjets in the grammar schools?
- What subjects do grammar school students learn nowadays in the EU? What is the ration between the pratical and theoretical subjets?
A lot of new and essential skills are needed when a young student enter into the world of work.
- How does the EU’s educational experts react to the needs of grammar schools in terms of new subjects,skills, schoolarships, foreign student exchange programmes?
- How do teachers in the EU motivate their students and help them to learn new skills?
- Is it possible to create a database within the EU to organize schoolarships, partner programmes between foreign schools, a channel to invite and send teachers and students within the EU to help the education? If yes, how?
How to reconcile the two things?
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