European Trade Union Committee for Education

The European Commission has recently published a new factsheet on tackling radicalisation through education and youth action. The factsheet contains details about the work Member States are undertaking to combat radicalisation as well as the work the EU is undertaking in this area, including through Erasmus+ funded projects.

The factsheet highlight France and Bulgaria as two examples of Member States taking action on tackling radicalisation through education and youth action. In regards to France, it mentions the ‘Great mobilisation of schools for the values of the Republic’ action plan which aims to foster a culture of citizenship, address socio-economic inequalities and promote social diversity. The action plan includes measures such as “the creation of a pool of citizens to support schools and educational institutions and the introduction of a special training programme to help teachers discuss citizenship-related questions, including secularism”, as well as a syllabus for moral and civic education in primary and secondary schools. In Bulgaria, a scheme called ‘Strategy for the educational integration of children and students from ethnic minorities 2015 – 2020’ has been introduced to promote equal opportunities and access to quality education opportunities for students from marginalised communities and young people with learning difficulties. Alongside this, the strategy aims to increase tolerance and non-discrimination in pre-primary schools as well as the development of a cultural identity.

The factsheet highlights the follow actions which the EU has taken:

• A network of role models who will visit schools, youth initiatives, sports clubs and prisons to share their experiences with young Europeans.
• Erasmus+ virtual exchanges to reach up to 200,000 young people in the EU, the Middle East and Africa for structured online discussions by 2019 to increase cross-cultural awareness, understanding and cooperation, as well as other competences such as language skills.
• A toolkit to support youth workers and organisations with practical guidance, methods and case studies to train youth workers and youth organisations working with young people at risk of marginalisation.
• A new European-wide online platform for schools as part of the schooleducationgateway.eu to enhance collaborative approaches in schools, improve attendance, reduce drop-out rates and find ways to encourage the involvement of parents in schools.

To read the full factsheet, click here.

To read the European Commission press release on the factsheet, click here.