The 5th Plenary session of the Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Education (CDEDU), which was held from 20 to 22 March 2024 in Strasbourg saw decisive actions towards enhancing education and promoting democratic values.

The Committee endorsed a detailed two-year roadmap for the creation of a European Space for Citizenship Education, aiming to foster collaboration among Member States, education institutions  and civil society organisations to advance democratic principles through high-quality citizenship education. The Committee also approved the new guidance document on the implementation of Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC) in vocational education and training.

Regarding higher education the Committee expressed broad support on the establishment of an Observatory on Preventing and Countering Education Fraud, welcomed the progress in the implementation of the European Qualifications Passport for Refugees and in drafting the policy recommendation on valuing the academic competences and professional skills of refugees in Europe. It welcomed the start of the implementation of the new project “Academic Freedom in Action”.

Efforts in digital citizenship education were highlighted, with the Committee approving the Guidance document “Contextualizing the competences for democratic culture in digital citizenship education”.

Collaboration with UNESCO to advance Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) was underscored, with plans for joint discussions to align priorities and initiatives between the two organizations.

In summary, the decisions taken during the 5th Plenary session of the CDEDU highlighted the Council of Europe's commitment to instil democratic values through education to implement the 2030 Education Strategy “Learners First: Education for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Democratic Societies”.