Action plan 2021-2027 tracker: education and training

The 2021-2027 Action plan on integration and inclusion's goals in the area of education and training include:

more migrant children and children with a migrant background participate in high quality and inclusive early childhood education and care
teachers are better equipped with the necessary skills, and are given the resources and support to manage multicultural and multilingual classrooms for the benefit of both migrant and native children
multi-stakeholder learning communities are created with the involvement of schools, health and social services and parents
qualifications acquired in non-EU countries are recognised faster and more easily
more migrants participate in comprehensive language training and civic orientation programmes which start upon arrival and accompany them along their integration journeys

Explore all actions in this integration area below.

1. Publish early-education toolkit

Action	Practical toolkit for inclusive early childhood education and care (ECEC)
Status	Complete
Type	Publication Tool
Implementation	The Practical toolkit for inclusive early childhood education and care (ECEC) was published by the EC in February 2021 and offers policy measures and practices meant to benefit all children. The toolkit also argues for a targeted approach for children with specific needs.

2. Develop teachers’ competences

Status

Continuous

Type

Funding
Programme
Project

Implementation

Under this action, funding has been provided for a number of projects, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027:

Under a 2021 call for funding, the first 11 Erasmus+ Teacher Academies were awarded a total of €15 million over three years, starting in 2022.
An Erasmus+ 2021 call also provided support 2 projects for the development of diversity management: the Allophone Teachers Academy (ALTA), 2022-2025 and the Teachers’ Upskilling Aiming at a Holistic Inclusivity in learning (TUTOR) 2022-2025.
Another 16 Erasmus+ projects were selected under the second call in 2022.

3. Peer activities for inclusive education

Status

Continuous

Type

Partnership
Policy

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. It is primarily implemented via the EEA Strategic Framework Working Groups and includes:

The November 2022 Council Recommendation on Pathways to School Success.
The Working Group on Schools, together with relevant EU countries’ ministries, conducted in December 2022 a session on enhancing the enrolment of children displaced from Ukraine.
The EC Expert group on supporting learning environments for groups at risk of underachievement and for supporting well-being at school launched in March 2023. In May 2024, it produced guidelines for policy makers and schools.
The Working Group on Equality and Values in Education and Training 2021-2025 works to address discrimination – see the August 2023 issue paper Tackling different forms of discrimination in and through education and training.
The European Integration Network (EIN) met in May 2024 to share good practices in supporting migrant children’s education in the EEA.

4. Training youth workers

Status

Continuous

Type

Project
Publication
Tool

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

The toolbox The contribution of youth work in the context of migration and refugee matters was published in 2019 and is available on the European Youth Portal. It is aimed at youth workers but also includes recommendations for policymakers.
The Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve (ALMA) initiative, not specifically targeted at migrants, helps improve the skills of people not involved in employment and education to join the EU labour markets.

5. Cooperation for qualifications recognition

Status

Continuous

Type

Partnership

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. The action focuses on the partnership between national authorities and the European Network of Information Centres in the European Region (ENIC) and National Academic Recognition Information Centres in the European Union (NARIC) networks. So far, it includes:

A meeting between the European Integration Network (EIN) and the ENIC-NARIC networks in March-April 2022 focused on the links between integration and qualifications recognition, as well as on challenges related to refugees' qualifications and the arrival of people displaced from Ukraine. See the agenda and more from the EIN and ENIC-NARIC meeting.
The EC and the ENIC-NARIC networks regularly communicate on integration initiatives, including in November 2023 the EU Talent Pool.

6. Supporting inclusion via Erasmus+

Action	Erasmus+ support to promote social inclusion and improve outreach to people with fewer opportunities
Status	Continuous
Type	Programme
Implementation	Inclusion is at the core of the Erasmus+ 2021-2027 programme. Its first-ever framework for inclusion and diversity was laid down in October 2021 to facilitate access for people with fewer opportunities. Erasmus+ National Agencies in all EU countries appointed inclusion officers and created inclusion plans. The EC closely monitors the implementation of these inclusion measures, with an interim evaluation of the programme expected by the end of 2024. More initiatives are expected to take place until 2027.

7. Recognising refugees’ qualifications

Status

Continuous

Type

Partnership
Project
Tool

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

The ENIC-NARIC website includes a guide for credential evaluators on how to recognise academic qualifications of refugees.
The European Qualification – Refugees and Recognition (EQUAL) project is an ongoing Erasmus+ NARIC project for sustainable recognition procedures for refugees. It builds capacity across the national bodies responsible for recognition in the participating EU countries.

8. EU27 cooperation on bridging courses

Action	Promote exchanges between the EU countries on providing complementary and bridging courses for migrants
Status	Complete
Type	Publication
Implementation	The May 2024 analysis Bridging courses for migrants to complement qualifications acquired in third countries: approaches and practices in EU Member States maps the courses available across the EU and identifies good practices and challenges. This analysis’s findings informed the European Integration Network (EIN) discussions in November 2023 and May 2024.

9. Information on skills recognition

Status

Continuous

Type

Tool

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

The 2020 European Skills Agenda has focused on the integration of third-country nationals through a skills development perspective.
Launched in July 2020, the Europass platform is consistently updated, including with information about the recognition of foreign qualifications.

10. Transparent qualifications comparison

Status

Continuous

Type

Partnership
Policy
Project

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

In the context of the 2017 EQF Recommendation, the EC is exploring the criteria and procedures in order to enable the comparison of third countries’ national and regional qualifications frameworks with the EQF.
A report on the first pilot project on how Ukrainian qualifications compare with the EQF was published in February 2023. A second pilot with Cabo Verde was conducted in 2023, with the final report expected in 2024. A third pilot with the Southern African Development Community Qualifications Framework (SADCQF) started in late 2023 and will be concluded by June 2024. The results of these three pilots will be reviewed at a peer-learning activity in the autumn of 2024, placed in the context of the EC’s Communication on skills and talent mobility.

11. EU27 cooperation for language learning

Status

Continuous

Type

Funding
Programme

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

The 2021 Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) thematic facility included language training and training for interpreters and cultural mediators on the topic of access to basic services.
Under the 2023 AMIF thematic facility call for proposals, 4 transnational projects were selected to implement activities on education and language learning for migrant children. Projects started in 2024.

12. EU27 cooperation for orientation courses

Status

Continuous

Type

Partnership

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. The European Integration Network (EIN) has carried out mutual assistance projects and study visits, including:

A 2022 project among the authorities of municipalities in Italy, Greece, Austria, showcasing key initiatives such as the compulsory civic orientation courses in Vienna and the Athens-based Helios project providing courses to beneficiaries of protection, including people displaced from Ukraine.
A mutual assistance project including 2022 study visits between the cities of Stockholm, Sweden, and Ghent, Belgium, to help Belgium’s Flanders region improve its civic orientation courses.
As part of the May 2024 EIN meeting in Belgium, the authorities in Leuven, Flanders, and Liège, Wallonia, organised study visits and presented their regional civic integration programmes.

13. Supporting people displaced from Ukraine

Status

Continuous

Type

Policy
Programme
Project

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

The EC, in consultation with UN bodies, national educational ministries and other stakeholders, adopted on 30 June 2022 a document outlining key principles and practices for the inclusion of displaced children from Ukraine in national education systems in the EU for the school year 2022-2023.
The Erasmus+ School Education Gateway was launched as a one-stop shop to provide educational materials from Ukraine, as well as materials in Ukrainian from the EU Member States.
The recommendation on the recognition of qualifications for people fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine was adopted in April 2022. The EC set up a task force to follow up on its implementation in the EU countries and promote exchanges on the best practices and challenges.
The resource hub for Education and work information for Ukrainians and EU countries of the European Training Foundation (ETF) has reached over 25 000 visitors since March 2022.