As Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT), MEP Victor Negrescu spoke about digital skills and access to educational technologies at a dedicated panel organised on the sidelines of the 5th European Education Summit on 1 December, attended by representatives of 21 EU education ministries from countries such as Germany, Czech Republic, Greece and Croatia. On this occasion, the social-democrat MEP      pointed out that it is necessary to increase Romania’s presence at European level in terms of educational technologies so that the country can make the most of its potential in this field and assume a leading role. In this regard, Victor Negrescu recalled the debates held this year at the European Parliament, where he highlighted Romania’s potential.

Victor Negrescu has organized in the last two years, against the backdrop of the negative impact of the COVID crisis on education, several public consultations on the digitalisation of education and has been actively involved in supporting access to education, creating an educational video channel and the first Romanian educational tablet, distributed free of charge, with internet connection, to thousands of children across the country. In addition, he      was the author of the report on shaping digital education policies, which was adopted with a large majority in the European Parliament.

In this quality digital education was defined and the tools for applying standards in the field were established; it set the objective of making digital education accessible to all and actively combating inequalities and discrepancies of any kind, supporting, among other things, the development of digital education hubs and a permanent dialogue with relevant actors in education to become co-creators of education.

The 1 December event showed that young people are the future of Europe and will play a central role in the green and digital transition of our societies. To do this, it is essential that Europe’s education and training systems can adapt to enable all young people to develop the skills and competences they need to thrive and innovate.