This is a comprehensive report covering a lot of issues related to education within the EU and the role it can play in the empowerment of girls and improving gender equality. It is also an opportunity for parliament to take a strong position on what should be prioritised.
Although education is not an EU competence, it lays the foundation for the principles and values of the union, so it is important that ideas on best practice are taken into consideration by member states.
I believe that empowerment through education has two key strands. First, education is a powerful driver for effecting cultural change. Both girls and boys are held back by the gender biases that exist in education, and these persist throughout their lifetime. By tackling them early, there is the possibility to create a different, more equal society.
Second, among other things, education helps girls prepare themselves for the challenges they will later face in employment. If we address the skills gap at source, we can improve women's economic independence in the long-term and address issues such as the gender-pay gap and the lack of representation of women in key sectors.
Teacher training is a particularly important factor. Teachers have the potential to bring about change by challenging gender stereotypes in the classroom. There is already some good practice on European cooperation on teacher training.
However, EU member states could be doing more to ensure that teachers know how to adapt their language and teaching methods in order to address gender biases and encourage both girls and boys into non-traditional areas of the curriculum. This is a major part of the battle to encourage girls into the science, technology, engineering and math (Stem) subjects.
The lack of interest and uptake in Stem subjects by girls is well documented. We are not doing enough to address it.
We need better teacher training, more female role models, improved career guidance - for both girls and boys - and we need to change the way we teach these subjects. Schools could do more to 'humanise' science.
It's also worth noting that Stem careers tend to have higher salaries, and therefore addressing this imbalance could help address other issues such as the gender pay gap.
Evidence from the US shows that women in Stem jobs earn 33 per cent more than those in non-Stem occupations and have a smaller wage-gap relative to men.
Training for entrepreneurship also needs to be strengthened if we are to truly empower girls through education, and I believe this must be emphasised more in the current report.
Entrepreneurs will be creating the jobs of tomorrow, and we should be providing the basics to allow both girls and boys to identify the gender biases that exist and how to correct and avoid them.
Finally we want to see more emphasis on the issue of sex and relationship education (SRE). There is a small reference to 'education on sexuality and the emotions', but we can be much more forceful on this.
SRE is essential for addressing wider gender-based inequality between men and women, and it needs to go further than just teaching our children about how to use contraception.
Sensitive and age-appropriate SRE can empower young women to see their bodies as their own and take control of their own decisions.