What's stopping young people from studying abroad? What do you think!

What can be done to encourage more young people to study abroad? The EU is asking precisely this question in an online consultation that was launched this morning. The results of the consultation will help form EU policy in education in the future.

The Green Paper "Promoting the learning mobility of young people" was also published today with the aim of launching a debate on how best young people can learn in another Member State.

Studying, learning, work experience or volunteering in another EU country are the best ways young people can strengthen their future employment prospects. The Consultation will end on the 15th of December.

 
Commenting on the Green Paper, the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Ján Figel', explained that " learning mobility is good for individuals, for schools, universities and training institutions and for society at large. It helps build skills, language knowledge and intercultural competences, and enhances individuals' and organisations' ability to innovate and compete at the international level. We need to encourage mobility, so that going abroad to learn becomes the norm, and not the exception. This is important, as much for the strength and sustainability of the EU's economic recovery as it is for the social cohesion of Europe's societies in the 21st Century."

The Green Paper and consultation can be reached from the below link
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/consult/index_en.html

The current situation

The EU has a variety of programmes and initiatives to encourage young people to take the challenge and study abroad. Since its birth 22 years ago the Erasmus programme has supported over 2 million students in studying across the EU.

But the EU's support covers a much broader range of areas, from higher education to business, research, vocational education and apprenticeships, from secondary level education to youth exchanges and volunteering, and from the cultural sphere to young entrepreneurs and the civil society.

In addition, the European Commission has helped to develop a number of programmes to make it easier for young people to go abroad for learning. The Europass and the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) for higher education allow academic recognition for time spent abroad.

However, study abroad still remains the exception rather than the rule and it is more accessible to some groups, such as students, than to others, such as vocational trainees and apprentices. In 2006, around 310,000 young people were able to go abroad with support from European programmes. This represents a mere 0.3% of the age group of 16-29 year olds in the EU which shows that much more could be done in this area.

Public consultation
The Green Paper asks a number of questions including:
How can we convince more young people to go abroad to acquire new knowledge, skills and experience?
What obstacles to mobility do we have to overcome?

How can all stakeholders - the Commission, Member States, regions, education and training institutions, NGOs - join forces in a new partnership for learning mobility?

The consultation period ends on 15 December 2009. The Commission will then evaluate the feedback and prepare a proposal for practical follow-up.

The Commission invites all interested parties to comment on the issues raised in the Green Paper and send their contributions via e-mail to eac-green-paper-mobility@ec.europa.eu or via mail to:

Green Paper
DG EAC/B3
MADO 11/14
European Commission
B-1049 Bruxelles

From 15 July, there will be an on-line multiple-choice questionnaire at:
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/consult/index_en.html

To know more:
European Commission: COM(2009)329 " Green Paper: Promoting the learning mobility of young people ", 8 July 2009
European Commission: Support for mobility
European Commission: Public consultations
European Commission: Press Release IP/08/1126 , 10 July 2008, " Expert group says: Make periods of learning abroad a rule, rather than the exception "