It is blog time. I have a few interesting things this week. First off is a very interesting signal from the European Parliament: a new Draft Report prepared by rapporteur Brigitte van den Berg on "Boosting Skills in the Union - Opportunities for Vocational Education and Training in Times of Transition" places Vocational Education and Training (VET) at the centre of Europe’s competitiveness agenda. Second is a thought-provoking keynote from Anthony Fisher Camilleri at the EDEN conference, arguing that digital sovereignty in EdTech requires an ecosystem strategy. Finally, we are seeing an interesting widening of the debate on AI readiness in education, highlighted by the Council of Europe's new policy tools and recent institutional surveys from the United States.

How do these developments fit together, and what might they mean for the future of vocational education and training in Europe, particularly when we look at the realities on the ground in countries like Spain?

The European Parliament's draft report makes a compelling case for re-evaluating how we perceive and fund VET. The report notes that while nearly half of all upper-secondary students in the European Union are enrolled in vocational programmes, VET is still often regarded as less valuable than academic education [1]. This perception gap creates tangible barriers. It contributes to academic drift and exacerbates critical skills shortages in vocational occupations that are essential for the green and digital transitions.

The rapporteur argues that VET should be viewed as an equally valued learning pathway. The report explicitly calls on the Commission to repeal the EU-level target for higher education attainment as a benchmark, arguing it contradicts the intention to value VET equally [1]. Furthermore, it insists on increasing the budget allocation for VET within the Erasmus+ programme to support learning mobility and ensure practical parity with academic education [1].

When we look at Spain, the practical implications of these policy discussions become starkly apparent. Spain is currently experiencing a significant mismatch between its educational output and labour market needs. While the country has reached the EU-level target for tertiary educational attainment, it also has the highest overqualification rate in the EU, with 35% of tertiary graduates employed in low-skilled jobs [2].

Conversely, Spain faces acute shortages in specific technical areas. The demand for STEM professionals, particularly in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), is rising much faster than the supply of graduates. The State Public Employment Service indicates that Spain needs over 1.39 million additional ICT specialists to meet the EU Digital Decade 2030 target [2].

This is where the intersection of AI, digital skills, and VET becomes critical. The adoption of artificial intelligence and automation is reshaping the labour market, but the adjustment is complex. Evidence suggests that in highly AI-exposed sectors like computer programming and telecommunications, employment in Spain has seen early signs of adjustment, declining by 6.4% over the past year [3]. This decline appears to be driven more by reduced hiring and the disappearance of entry-level tasks than by mass layoffs [3].

The risk for Spain, and arguably for Europe, is not necessarily an overabundance of AI, but rather that its adoption occurs with insufficient training and weak transitions between education and businesses [3]. This underscores the urgent need for a responsive and modernised VET system. Spain is taking steps to address these challenges by making all VET programmes progressively dual and introducing new tracks focused on AI and data [2].

However, modernising VET curricula to include digital skills is only one piece of the puzzle. The technology infrastructure underpinning this education must also be considered, which brings us to Anthony Fisher Camilleri's argument regarding digital sovereignty in EdTech.

Camilleri argues that the European debate on digital sovereignty has focused too heavily on hardware, infrastructure, and developing European applications [4]. He posits that this overlooks the main reason European EdTech companies struggle to scale: the lack of an ecosystem strategy built on open standards [4]. Education technology consists of interdependent layers, from infrastructure to data, applications, distribution platforms, and emerging AI models. Investment at one level cannot compensate for weaknesses at others [4].

For VET systems attempting to modernise and integrate AI, this is a crucial insight. A European learning management system or a digital credential wallet has limited value if it relies on proprietary infrastructure, cannot exchange data, or restricts the portability of learner records across borders [4]. Camilleri warns that without open standards, institutions are locked into individual suppliers, and smaller providers face prohibitive market-entry costs [4].

This ecosystem view aligns perfectly with the widening debate on what constitutes true "AI Readiness" in education. We are moving past the initial panic over academic integrity and toward systemic alignment. The Council of Europe is currently developing a Compass for AI and Education, structured around literacy, practice, evaluation, and regulation [5]. Rather than merely looking at the capabilities of individual teachers or students, such frameworks emphasize the alignment of technology for educational purposes within specific, concrete contexts [5].

This shift from individual capability to institutional alignment is echoed in the 2025 survey by the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET), authored by Judith Sebesta. The survey reveals that while institutions initially focused heavily on AI for instruction and learning, its use in operations and governance is now growing, primarily to enhance efficiency [6]. Yet, the survey highlights a significant barrier: the most prominent obstacle to AI adoption is insufficient knowledge among faculty and staff, coupled with a lack of training for students [6].

The connection between the European Parliament's VET policy goals, Camilleri's EdTech ecosystem strategy, and the new focus on institutional AI readiness is profound. If VET is to be a primary driver of economic resilience, it must be supported by a robust, interoperable digital infrastructure and guided by comprehensive governance policies. We cannot successfully address the skills gaps highlighted in Spain - or facilitate the cross-border mobility of VET students advocated by the Parliament - if the technological systems they learn on are trapped in proprietary silos, or if institutions lack the strategic alignment to use these tools effectively. A truly modern VET system requires not just updated curricula, but a sovereign digital ecosystem and a holistic approach to institutional readiness that allows skills, data, and innovation to scale across Europe.

References

[1] European Parliament. (2026). Draft Report on boosting skills in the Union – opportunities for vocational education and training in times of transition (2026/2070(INI)). https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/EMPL-PR-789915_EN.pdf

[2] European Commission. (2025). Education and training monitor 2025 - Spain. https://op.europa.eu/webpub/eac/education-and-training-monitor/en/country-reports/spain.html

[3] BBVA Research. (2026). Spain | AI and employment: early signs of adjustment? https://www.bbvaresearch.com/en/publicaciones/spain-ai-and-employment-early-signs-of-adjustment/

[4] Camilleri, A. F. (2026). Digital sovereignty in EdTech requires an ecosystem strategy. LinkedIn Pulse. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/digital-sovereignty-edtech-requires-ecosystem-camilleri-o4ynf

[5] Council of Europe. (2025). Ensuring Quality Education in the AI Era - Introducing the Council of Europe Compass for AI and Education. https://www.coe.int/en/web/education/-/artificial-intelligence-and-education-third-working-conference

[6] WCET. (2025). Insights into AI’s Transformative Role in Higher Education: WCET’s 2025 Survey. https://wcet.wiche.edu/frontiers/2025/08/21/insights-ai-transformative-role-in-higher-ed-wcets-2025-survey/

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