eu4journalists

Education - Culture - Youth

2. Programmes and Actions

Tempus -"people to people" academic cooperation

The Trans-European mobility scheme for university studies funds projects between the higher education sector in the EU and its 26 partner countries. Its mandate is to facilitate cultural understanding, university modernisation and mutual learning between regions and people. The Tempus partner regions are the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. TEMPUS funds projects developing teacher training, curriculum development and innovation, university management and structural reforms in higher education. It puts special emphasis on the mobility of academic and administrative staff from higher education institutions, both from the EU and the partner countries.

Erasmus Mundus

runs in the EU, including Accession and Candidate Countries, the European Economic Area (EEA), and the European Free Trade Area (EFTA). Erasmus Mundus is designed make the EU a world centre of learning, allowing third-country nationals to study in Europe and vice versa. It has four tiers of participation:

• Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses – Integrates courses of at least three universities, all in different countries, into a double, multiple or joint diploma.
• Erasmus Mundus Scholarships – Awards scholarships to highly qualified students from 3rd countries all over the world to pursue Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses.
• Partnerships – Encourages EU, EEA and EFTA countries to open their universities to the world in order to enhance their international character.
• “Enhancing Attractiveness” - A kind of public-relations support for institutions of higher education, including the promotion of international, higher-education and the mutual recognition of degrees and qualifications with 3rd countries.

Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013

The Lifelong Learning Programme comprises four sectoral programmes on school education (Comenius), higher education (Erasmus), vocational training (Leonardo da Vinci) and adult education (Grundtvig), and is completed by a transversal programme focusing on policy cooperation, languages, information and communication technology and dissemination and exploitation of results. Finally, the Jean Monnet programme focuses on European integration and support for certain key institutions and associations active in the field. The programme budget will be close to €7 billion for the total period 2007-2013.

The aim of the programmes package is to contribute through lifelong learning to the development of the Community as an advanced knowledge society, with sustainable economic development, more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. It aims to foster interaction, cooperation and mobility between education and training systems within the Community, so that they become a world quality reference.

As regards the four sectoral programmes, quantified targets have been set in order to ensure a significant, identifiable and measurable impact for the programme. These targets are as follows:

• Comenius European Cooperation on School Education Program is devoted to the 1st level of education, from pre-school until secondary school, and includes students, educators, and local, parent and non-governmental organizations. The program supports partnerships and mobility between schools and seeks to involve at least three million pupils in joint educational activities over the period of the program.

• The ERASMUS Program for higher education was established in 1987 to encourage academic mobility for students and teachers within the European Union and its Candidate and Accession countries, and the European Economic Area. Inspired by the life of the Dutch humanist and theologian, Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, it currently incorporates 2,199 institutions of higher-education across 31 countries. Students pursuing a third-level degree are sent between participating countries for 3 months to a year, with the goal of 3 million exchanges by 2012.

• Leonardo da Vinci is applicable to vocational education and training and is geared towards citizens who are entering the labour market.The program is designed in enhance labour skills and reduce unemployment, with the goal of increasing job-placement to 80,000 per year by the end of the program.

• Grundtvig is applicable to the adult population. The program aims to support the mobility of 7,000 individuals involved in adult education per year by 2013.