Higher education in "Erasmus for all : Hopes and fears. Dr. Siegbert Wuttig, DAAD Brussels, 27 March 2012

Transcription

1 Higher education in "Erasmus for all : Hopes and fears Dr. Siegbert Wuttig, DAAD Brussels, 27 March 2012

2 What I am going to talk about? 1. Current European policy agendas and EU programmes: main achievements and desirable improvements (the ERASMUS example) 2. General remarks on the Erasmus for all proposal and the programme architecture 3. Many hopes, new opportunities and perspectives for higher education institutions 4. Some fears expressed by the HE sector 5. Recommendations to the European Parliament 2

3 Selected European policy agendas including higher education New Transatlantic Agenda Europe 2020 Bologna Process Copenhagen Process Neighbourhood Policy Eastern Partnership Initiative Neighbourhood Policy Union for the Mediterranean Asia-Europa Meeting ASEM EU-Latin America Partnership Africa-EU Strategic Partnership EU-Australia Partnership Framework 3

4 EU Higher education programmes - worldwide NORTH AMERICA ATLANTIS (EU-USA) TEP (EU-Canada) Erasmus Mundus II EUROPE ERASMUS Tempus IV Erasmus Mundus II NORTH AFRICA / MIDDLE EAST Tempus IV Erasmus Mundus II Intra-ACP Academic Mobility Scheme ASIA Tempus IV Erasmus Mundus II EU-Japan/Korea Programme Vulcanus (Japan) LATIN AMERICA ALFA III Erasmus Mundus II AFRICA / CARRIBEAN / PACIFIC EDULINK ACP Science and Technology Programme Erasmus Mundus II Intra-ACP Academic Mobility Scheme OCEANIA EU-Australia/New Zealand Programme Erasmus Mundus II 4

5 25 years of ERASMUS: Main achievements Almost participating HEIs 2.5 million mobile students 300,000 mobile staff Significant impact on individuals, institutions, national education systems and Europe Worldwide role model for regional mobility and academic cooperation 5

6 25 years of ERASMUS: Desirable improvements Geographical coverage Modernisation of programme measures in the Bologna context Strategic use of the programme as internationalisation instrument for HEIs Quality of mobility (e.g. linguistic preparation, recognition of study achievements abroad) Monthly student grants Simplification of administration 6

7 1999 (Bologna: 30) Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom 2001 (Prague: 33) Croatia, Cyprus, Turkey Different geographical coverage EHEA: 47 signatory countries ERASMUS Area: 33 partner countries 2003 (Berlin: 40) Albania, Andorra, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Holy See, FYR of Macedonia, Russia, Serbia 2005 (Bergen: 45) Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine Kazakhstan 2007 (London: 46) Montenegro 2010 (Vienna: 47) Kazakhstan Bologna H.E. Area 7

8 ERASMUS student mobility (studies) and monthly grant in Germany Average monthly grant 2010/11 8

9 Erasmus for all ( ): The proposal The Commission s proposal for Erasmus for all contains a number of promising ideas: Increasing significantly the budget Simplifying the programme management Integrating international EU higher education programmes Supporting intra-european degree mobility at Masters level with EIB loans Strengthening university-business cooperation. However, there is also the idea for a radical change of the programme architecture: Integrating all existing education programmes and abandoning their brand names Introducing three horizontal action lines instead My credo: It is imperative to keep the sector-specifity and the successful brand names! Dr. Siegbert Wuttig, DAAD 9

10 The proposed programme architecture Existing programmes A single integrated programme Lifelong Learning Programme: Grundtvig Erasmus Leonardo Comenius International higher education Programmes (currently Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Alfa, Edulink) Youth in Action Programme Budget: 19 billion Euro (+73 %?) 1. Learning Mobility Erasmus for all 2. Institutional co-operation 3. Policy support Change of paradigm: From a sector-specific approach to an action-oriented approach. 10

11 More observations on the Commission s proposal 1. Programme name: ERASMUS means EuRopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students; Erasmus really for all? 2. Budgets for actions and sectors: for actions ok; no indication for sectors: fixed budgets (80-85%) are imperative for stability and planning security ; 3. Programme administration: simplification for all?; administration is more than managing money; responsibility for national programme administration should lie with the MS; 4. Programme description: too vague and general; many details are unknown so far; the programme is probably better than its description. 11

12 Higher education in Erasmus for all : Hopes More opportunities by integrating intra-european and international HE programmes Significant programme budget increase (73%) with adequate consideration of higher education Priority on learning mobility (63%) New perspectives for HE in all 3 horizontal action lines: Learning mobility of individuals Partnerships Policy support 12

13 Higher education in Erasmus for all : Hopes National Agency for EU Higher Education Cooperation Employability, European/global citizenship of students and university staff Mobility of individuals Internationalisation and attractiveness of European HEIs ; capacity building Cross-sectoral lifelong learning cooperation Impact of ERASMUS for All Structural cooperation of institutions Bridge building with other education sectors Policy support and measures Intra-European and global higher education policy dialogue DAAD: March

14 HE in EfA: Opportunities and perspectives Current programme Action EfA action line Comment ERASMUS Mobility of students (studies/ placements) and staff Learning mobility of individuals; intra-european dimension Mass credit mobility (with minimum quality standards) ERASMUS Mundus A2: Mobility partnerships (with regional focus) students/staff Learning mobility of individuals: international dimension New: ERASMUS type credit mobility (with regional focus? ) 14 14

15 HE in EfA: Opportunities and perspectives Current programme Erasmus Mundus Action EfA action line Comment A1a: Joint Masters A1b: Joint PhDs A1a: Learning mobility; international dimension; A1b: moves to Marie-Curie Elite degree mobility of Masters students; loss of joint PhDs Learning mobility of Masters students; intra-european dimension New: Degree mobility of Masters students; loan guarantee facility 15 15

16 HE in EfA: Opportunities and perspectives Current programme Action EfA action line Comment ERASMUS Centralised actions (curriculum development, UBC); Intensive programmes Strategic partnerships No separate actions anymore Strategic partnerships; Knowledge alliances New: structural cooperation (incl. UBC) with focus on quality 16 16

17 HE in EfA: Opportunities and perspectives Current programme Action EfA action line Comment Tempus Higher education reform: institutions and systems (with regional focus) International HE capacity building Focus on neighbourhood countries (excl. some Tempus countries) Alfa, Edulink Capacity building; regional integration (Latin America, Africa) International HE capacity building Focus on neighbourhood countries (what about Asia?) 17 17

18 Higher education in Erasmus for all : Some fears 1. Do we lose our visibility and sense of ownership? 2. Does the change from a sector-specific approach to an action-oriented approach mean more focus on administrative programme aspects? 3. Will we have to compete for funds with other education sectors? 4. Will there be stability and long-term planning security for systemic institutional involvement? 18

19 Possible solution: Combining actions and sectors New Education Programme 3 Action lines Separate: Sport, Jean Monnet ERASMUS COMENIUS LEONARDO GRUNDTVIG YOUTH IN ACTION 19

20 Recommendations (1) 1. Make the programme a real European policy support instrument (e.g. to help implement the quantitative and qualitative goals of the Bologna Process). 2. Propose a significant budget increase for the overall programme to continue proven actions, implement new elements, broaden the geographical scope of the programme (international dimension) and enhance access to the programme (e.g. through better student grants, strict recognition requirements, special funding for people with special needs). Dr. Siegbert Wuttig, DAAD 20

21 Recommendations (2) 3. Keep the proposed action lines, add sectorspecific windows and maintain the wellestablished brand names for these windows. 4. Define clear minimum budgets for the different education sectors in the legal text % of the total programme budget should be fixed in order to guarantee stability and planning security for the beneficiaries. 5. Make the programme simple, transparent and user-friendly for the beneficiaries and leave the organisation of decentralised programme administration to the Member States. Dr. Siegbert Wuttig, DAAD 21

22 Thank you for listening! Lifelong Learning Programme: Grundtvig Erasmus Leonardo Comenius International higher education Programmes Youth in Action Programme New education programme 1. Learning Mobility 2. Partnerships 3. Policy support 22