Eurydice Voice

Dear subscriber, welcome to the summer edition of Eurydice Voice. You will find our latest Focus On Articles, many education news, and information on our publications. Wishing you a happy and joyful summertime.

The rapid transition from face-to-face to distance learning and school closures due to the global health crisis have massively affected all levels of education including higher education. Have we learned how to improve online learning during the pandemic?

In recent months, a number of articles have been published addressing academic freedom in higher education. But what exactly is academic freedom? And does it matter? The Rome Communiqué, adopted by European ministers of higher education in 2020, defines academic freedom as the “freedom of academic staff and students to engage in research, teaching, learning and communication in and with society without interference nor fear of reprisal.”

Belgium reached the upper echelons of world football despite being a country with very small populations. But how did it do? Belgium's "golden generation" is no fluke, but the outcome of an excellent policy design developed over several years which could also have wider implications for how we think about education. Enjoy again, in a period where football is in the spotlight, this Focus on article.

In 2020, the Norwegian government has implemented the skills reform “Learning throughout Life” (“Lære hele livet”) in order to improve the system of further education and training for working life and make it more flexible.

Did you miss our conference on Teachers in Europe? No worry, here you can watch at it! You will find the presentation of the Eurydice report “Teachers in Europe: Careers, Development and Well-being” focused on lower secondary teachers. The report analyses several key aspects and challenges of teachers’ current situation. The education policies that influence Teachers’ Careers, Development and Well-being, and provide evidence of both policies and practices have also been addressed during this conference.

Sweden is one of the few countries in Europe where schools were kept open after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic during the spring of 2020. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate published a report on the effects of the pandemic on Swedish schools during 2020 with the title “Education under the influence of the Corona pandemic: A summary of central observations from a simplified inspection of 260 compulsory schools and compulsory schools for pupils with learning disabilities”. This report illustrates the situation during the spring and the first half of the autumn 2020 from the points of view of headmasters from 260 schools and pupils from 237 schools.