Moving towards a contemporary, qualitative, and social education system with TeSLA: the European employment market is in a phase of steady transformation. This development has been triggered by the technological nature of our age and the myriad of challenges associated with it. The origins and significance of these change drivers are complex; they have emerged from the fields of society, politics, research and business.
The largest megatrends include the ongoing process of digitalisation, increasing globalisation, and increasing mobility.
In addition to the evolving world of employment, Europe’s population structures are also changing. Due to changing demographics, we are being confronted with a considerable shift in the age structure.
In order to meet the challenges of these megatrends, deal with their consequences for society and employment in Europe, and guarantee an efficient economy, the EU was obliged to take action. As a result, it has defined and recommended basic key competences for the population of Europe.
According to the European Commission’s assessment, these recommendations are the prerequisite for timely, future-oriented access to the employment market. They include multilingualism, mathematical and scientific understanding, cultural education, structured thinking, social intelligence, and willingness to take action.[1]
After defining these basic prerequisites, the next challenge is to develop a suitable range of educational offers. It is imperative that new educational opportunities adapt to the aforementioned societal and employment market megatrends. In their implementation, educational opportunities must take into account issues such as increasing mobility and the ageing population. At the same time, new opportunities must be exploited, for example through the process of increasing digitisation.
The European Union has responded to these challenges with the “ET 2020” strategy paper, and by setting new priorities. The strategic aim is to exploit potential and to guarantee long-term economic prosperity within Europe. One of the EU’s central concerns is the demand for lifelong learning; education should not merely be regarded as a phase in the first half of life, but as a constant companion. In addition to this transformation, at the same time it is crucial that education is made accessible to the population. Equal opportunities not only advance the levels of education and efficiency in a service-oriented society, but also ensure civic engagement and social peace. The increase in educational offers and the number of people studying, and the implementation of new technological opportunities also result in a need to ensure and improve the quality of education.[2]
In the higher education sector, the growing number of educational offers is already evident. In 2003, there were 17.8 million students in the EU; by 2012 this figure had risen to 20.25 million. However, it is not just the uptake of offers which has increased; the structure of education has also changed. Educational institutions are increasingly relying on online-based learning and examination programmes. [3]
Within the framework of this development, the TeSLA project provides a guarantee for the quality and safety of the education and qualifications/certificates on offer. Digital education requires new verification methods. TeSLA secures the next step towards a contemporary, qualitative, and social education system in the digital age.
LPLUS Team
[1] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32006H0962&from=ENG
[2] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=LEGISSUM:ef0016&from=ENG
[3] https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/160339/umfrage/anzahl-der-studenten-in-deutschland-und-der-eu/
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