From Digital-First to Well-being-First

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has released a major report on well-being in digital education across EU schools, sending a clear signal to policymakers and practitioners alike: digital transformation in education must be human-centred.

For Vocational Education and Training (VET), this message is particularly timely. As VET systems accelerate digitalisation to meet labour market needs, learner well-being is emerging as a strategic prerequisite for skills development, employability, and long-term workforce resilience.

This report marks a decisive narrative shift — from “digital first” to “well-being first” — one that strongly aligns with the EU’s broader skills and VET policy agenda.

Read the report: Promoting Well-being in Digital Education: Proposal for a Model of Emerging Practices (JRC, 2025)

A necessary narrative flip — embedded in EU skills policy

The JRC report argues that digital competence loses its value if it undermines physical, mental, or social well-being. It introduces a Model of Emerging Practices that places the human being at the centre of digital education ecosystems.

This approach directly reinforces the European Skills Agenda, which calls for:

• High-quality, inclusive, and lifelong skills development
• Skills policies that support not just employability, but social fairness and resilience
• Training systems that can adapt to digital and green transitions without leaving learners behind

In this sense, well-being is not an add-on — it is a condition for effective upskilling and reskilling, particularly in VET contexts.

Why this matters for VET learners

VET learners sit at the intersection of education and employment. They are expected to:

• Acquire job-specific technical skills
• Build digital competences aligned with industry needs
• Transition smoothly into a labour market shaped by automation, AI, and platform work

The JRC report highlights risks that can undermine this process, including:

• Digital fatigue, eye strain, and disrupted sleep
• Anxiety, cyberbullying, and online pressure
• Social isolation and reduced attention
• Persistent digital divides, especially affecting vulnerable learners

These challenges can be particularly acute in VET, where learners must balance practical, hands-on training with increasingly digital learning environments.

The opportunity: whole-system approaches that work

One of the report’s most relevant conclusions for VET is that well-being improves when digital education is addressed systemically.

Key success factors include:

• Whole-institution approaches
  Leadership, teachers, learners, families, and EdTech providers working together — echoing the governance logic of the Pact for Skills, which emphasises shared responsibility and stakeholder collaboration.
• Pedagogical balance
  Combining digital and analogue methods, embedding movement and offline time, and using technology only where it adds real value — aligned with the VET Recommendation’s focus on quality and relevance.
• Safety-first digital design
  Digital tools must prioritise accessibility, data protection, and mental health — reinforcing EU values around trustworthy digitalisation.

Well-being is not an “extra” in digital education — it is what makes digital learning sustainable, inclusive, and effective.

Skills4Retail: translating EU policy into practice

This is where Skills4Retail becomes particularly relevant.

Retail is one of the sectors most affected by digitalisation, facing:

• Automation and AI-driven processes
• Omnichannel business models
• New forms of customer interaction
• Rapidly evolving skills profiles

Through its work on modernising VET curricula and training approaches, Skills4Retail operationalises key EU policy priorities:

🟢 It contributes to the Pact for Skills by fostering cooperation between training providers, industry actors, and stakeholders.

🟢 It supports the European Skills Agenda by focusing on future-oriented, labour-market-relevant skills.

🟢 It reflects the VET Recommendation by promoting flexible, inclusive, and learner-centred training pathways.

Crucially, Skills4Retail does not treat digitalisation as a purely technical challenge. It recognises that sustainable skills development depends on learning environments that learners can realistically cope with — cognitively, socially, and emotionally.

Learn more about Skills4Retail

What VET systems can do now

Drawing on the JRC findings and initiatives like Skills4Retail, several policy-relevant actions stand out:

• Invest in educator training beyond digital tools
  Teachers and trainers need support in managing digital risks, learner well-being, and balanced technology use — a clear priority under the VET Recommendation.
• Co-design learning with learners
  Involving learners in shaping digital training reflects the European Skills Agenda’s emphasis on empowerment and ownership.
• Set clear institutional guidelines
  Rules on screen time, device use, and online communication help normalise healthy digital behaviour.
• Address infrastructure gaps
  Reliable connectivity and access to devices remain essential to ensuring equity — a core principle across all EU skills policies.

A final reflection

For too long, digital skills have been treated as a technical box to tick. The JRC report confirms what VET practitioners increasingly observe: true digital competence includes the ability to disconnect, self-regulate, and stay safe.

If Europe wants a skilled, adaptable, and resilient workforce, well-being must be embedded at the heart of digital education and training. This is not only consistent with the European Skills Agenda, the Pact for Skills, and the VET Recommendation — it is necessary to make them work.

In sectors like retail, where change is constant and pressure is high, initiatives such as Skills4Retail demonstrate how EU policy ambitions can be translated into human-centred, future-proof VET systems.

Author
Sabrina Di Ruggiero
Schuman Associates | Project Manager