Highlights

Context

Mobility in all its forms - physical, knowledge and skills - has an unprecedented role to play in education, particularly in the Mediterranean. Indeed, mobility can strengthen the quality of education, for example through new teaching methods, but also through cooperation and co-construction of curriculum, allowing for knowledge exchange and sharing between institutions, teachers, researchers, training centres, etc. Mobility also allows students to develop key skills - 21st-century skills - which are necessary for integration and adaptation into today’s changing labour markets and for strengthening their capacities as individuals, as well as their openness to the world and others. The role of mobility is essential in post-secondary education, including higher education and vocational training, for the consolidation of these key skills in order to enhance youth employability.

Education systems in the Mediterranean today have failed to equip students with the right combination of knowledge and skills necessary for successful integration and evolution within labour markets - which has led to high unemployment rates among young graduates. Coupled with the saturation of some higher education tracks, this causes tensions in labour markets, which are unable to absorb such a large cohort of young graduates. In this context, specific attention should be paid to vocational training - which is often overlooked because it is perceived as an option for low-performing students. However, vocational training is a crucial part of post-secondary education. Indeed, it contributes to the development of key technical skills, much needed to fill labour market gaps and shortages, and can also contribute to the development and promotion of 21st-century skills, in particular through the introduction of elements of mobility and exchange.

It is, therefore, necessary to rethink the role of mobility in education in order to enhance its quality and the relevance of the skills acquired.

Objectives

Aware of these realities related to mobility and education, the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) and the Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) has decided to launch a series of dialogues around these issues.

The first webinar “Perspectives on Mobility and Migration in the Mediterranean” offered a cross-analysis of migration and mobility issues in the Mediterranean, first from a cross-cutting point of view (education and youth employability), and then through the intersection of European and African perspectives.

This second webinar will explore the education-skills-mobility nexus, with a focus on the role of mobility in education for skills development.

Resources

Agenda