EDUCATION COMMITTEE Thursday, 13 June 2013 Agenda Point 4 - - - PDF document

1 EDUCATION COMMITTEE Thursday, 13 June 2013 Agenda Point 4 - International cooperation in education and training Introduction This note presents an overall picture of the international cooperation that the Commission carries out in the fields of education (mainly higher education but also youth), both in terms of regional programmes and policy dialogue. It excludes bilateral cooperation projects in the fields of education and training implemented by Europaid.

• 1. International cooperation programmes

Erasmus Mundus Erasmus Mundus was launched in 2004 to foster the international mobility of students and academic staff and promote the global visibility of EU higher education. These objectives are achieved through 3 main types of projects: support to joint masters and doctoral courses, the award of full scholarships to students and academics from non- EU (and to a limited extent EU countries) and support to promotion projects aiming to enhance the profile, visibility and attractiveness of EU higher education worldwide. Erasmus Mundus has become the flagship action for the EU's relations with the wider world with 138 joint master courses, 42 joint doctoral programmes and over a hundred of academic partnerships selected with nearly 50,000 scholarships awarded to students and academics in the last decade. 2009 saw the launch of the second phase of the Erasmus Mundus programme, a strengthened and more generously funded programme, with the introduction

• f a new action aiming at funding Erasmus-type mobility with targeted regions of the world.

The budget for Erasmus Mundus has reached over 1.6 billion Euros for the 2007-2013 period (647 million Euros from Heading 1 and 976 from Heading 4). Jean Monnet Jean Monnet activities aim to stimulate teaching, research and reflection on European Union issues at higher education institutions throughout the world. With projects across the five continents, in 76 countries, it reaches up to 250 000 students every year. Between 1990 and 2012, the Jean Monnet Programme has helped to set up approximately 3,900 projects in the field of European integration studies, including 177 Jean Monnet European Centres of Excellence, 956 Chairs and 2,190 permanent courses and European modules. Tempus: enlargement and neighbouring countries, Central Asia and Russia The Tempus programme supports the modernisation of higher education and creates an area of co-operation in countries surrounding the EU. Established in 1990, it has supported to date over 4000 projects and more than 14000 individual mobilities of students and academic staff and over €1.5 billion in grants have been provided to beneficiaries. The scheme now covers 27 countries in the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia,

2 North Africa and the Middle East. The annual Tempus budget amounts to around €70 million, and individual projects receive funding between €0.5 and €1.5 million, lasting 2 or 3 years. The total budget allocated to the programme between 2007 and 2013 amounted to 483 million Euros. It finances mainly two types of actions:

• Joint Projects based on multilateral partnerships between higher education institutions in

the EU and the Partner Countries, targeted at institutional level (curriculum development activities, university governance and management, relations between Higher Education and society.)

• Structural Measures for the development and reform of educational institutions and systems

at national level in the Partner Countries. Alfa in Latin America The ALFA Programme began in 1994 to reinforce co-operation in Higher Education. The programme co-finances projects aimed at improving the capacity of academics and universities in Latin America. The first phase, ALFA I (1994-1999), with a budget of € 31 million, ran until 1999 and involved 1064 institutions operating 846 projects. The second phase, ALFA II (2000-2006), with a total of 10 selection rounds represented a budget of €54.6 million distributed to 225 projects held by 770 institutions organised in networks with an average of 9 institutions from Latin America and Europe. The third phase, ALFA III (2007-2013), has a budget of € 75 million (significant budget increase) with an upgraded programme structured along the Tempus model: Joint Projects and Structural Projects. Intra-ACP academic mobility scheme The intra-ACP academic mobility scheme promotes cooperation between higher education institutions and supports mobility in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) regions. The programme aims to increase access to quality education that will encourage and enable ACP students to undertake postgraduate studies, and to promote student retention in the region along with mobility of academic and administrative staff, while increasing the competitiveness and attractiveness of the institutions themselves. The mobility scheme provides support to set up inter-institutional university cooperation partnerships within the ACP regions; and provides support to individual students, researchers and university staff to spend a study / research / teaching period in the context

• f one of the cooperation partnerships.

Edulink The aim of the Edulink programme is to foster, through cooperation projects, capacity building and regional integration in the field of higher education through institutional networking, and to support a quality higher education system, which is relevant to the needs

• f the labour market, and consistent with the socio-economic development priorities of ACP
• States. The second phase of the programme was concluded with a call for proposals with a

global budget of € 23 Million in 2012. The global budget over the 2007-2013 priod reached 48.3 Million Euros.

3 Bilateral agreements with industrialised countries Bilateral agreements were set up between the European Union and some industrialised countries outside Europe to fund innovative projects that focus on academic cooperation and student mobility. The programmes under these agreements give support to consortia of higher education and training institutions working together to improve their educational services, compare and modernise curricula and to develop joint study programmes with recognition of credits and qualifications. Unlike other international programmes in the area of education and training, these bilateral schemes are based on matched funding, i.e. each euro invested by the EU should in principle be countered by an equivalent investment by the respective partner country. Since the inception of these programmes, 300 projects have been funded with a total amount of almost €100 million. These projects involved some 890 European universities and vocational training institutions, and over 800 institutions across North America, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The projects launched to date support around 11,000 student exchanges. eTwinning Plus under Comenius The European Commission’s 'eTwinning' network, which has encouraged 100 000 schools in 33 European countries to talk to each other and work together via the internet was recently extended to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Tunisia on a pilot basis. Youth in Action and support to informal learning Over the period 2007-2011, a budget of 123,3 million Euros was allocated to cooperation with third countries which allowed for the support of almost 6400 projects reaching 93000 participants (young people, youth workers and volunteers).

• 2. Sectoral policy dialogues with third countries

Policy dialogue in higher education with international partners is aligned with the external priorities of the EU, and takes place within existing cooperation frameworks such as the Enlargement Strategy, the European Neighbourhood Policy (for example in the framework of the Eastern Partnership) or the different (multi-sector) partnership agreements with emerging

• r industrialised countries such as the High-level People-to-People Dialogue between the EU

and China, the Education and Training Dialogue within the EU and Brazil Strategic Partnership and the EU-Russia common spaces Eastern Partnership Platform 4 (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus) The Eastern Partnership (EaP) was launched in May 2009 as a strategic policy initiative aiming at a significant strengthening of EU policy with regard to the Eastern partners in a bilateral and multilateral framework. The partnership established four policy platforms reflecting the main areas of cooperation between the Partner countries and the EU. Each of them adopts a bi-annual work programme.

4 Platform 4 ‘Contacts between people’ is a forum for discussion in the fields of education, training, research, youth, culture, media and information society. The platform offers a mixed balance of policy dialogue and strengthened participation in EU programmes (Tempus, Erasmus Mundus, Marie Curie, eTwinning, Youth in Action…).The members of Platform 4 – representatives of EU countries and the six Eastern Partners – meet twice a year. Each meeting highlights a special topic – the most recent was dedicated to the presentation of the new generation of programmes in the field of education, culture and research, the previous

• ne to vocational education and training. Two important events will be organised in the

framework of the EaP Platform 4 during the Lithuanian presidency: an EaP Youth Forum and an Erasmus for all information day. Western Balkan Platform on education and training Launched in spring 2011, the aim of this Platform is to assist the Western Balkans with their reform efforts in the area of education and training, and increase regional cooperation. The Platform convenes the Ministers responsible for education in the region on an annual basis. The annual Ministerial meeting has a steering function to identify topics and areas where regional cooperation and/or assistance are desirable. Other spin-off activities can be

• rganised under the Platform at a technical level (where good practice cases are presented

and discussion among the stakeholders is facilitated) and reported to the Platform Ministerial

• meetings. At the first Platform meeting, all Ministries agreed that higher education is the most

important sector under reform in the region and the Commission was requested to organise an event for policy dialogue Southern Mediterranean dialogue on higher education Launched in July 2012, its main objectives are firstly to support partner countries in modernising their higher education systems and promote their voluntary convergence towards the Bologna Process and the emerging European Research and Higher Education

• Area. The dialogue aims also at improving the knowledge and use of EU-supported

programmes in this field (Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Jean Monnet and Marie Curie) in order to support the development of their higher education systems and at informing partner countries about future funding opportunities. The dialogue also supports intra-regional cooperation and mobility of staff and students. Upcoming events organised are an Information Day on the future E4 All programme and a seminar on quality assurance. Africa-EU Strategy The 2007 Joint Africa-EU Strategy and first Action Plan (2008-2010) emphasises the importance of co-operation in higher education to build high-quality tertiary capacity through networking, mobility of students and scholars, and institutional support and innovation. The Africa-EU Strategic Partnership on Migration, Mobility and Employment and the 2nd Action Plan (2011-2013) further stresses these objectives. In implementing the Plan of Action for the second decade of Education for Africa, the African Union Commission has embarked on a process of promoting quality assurance and has developed a framework for harmonisation of higher education programmes in Africa. The potential contribution of the "Tuning Educational Structures and Programmes" methodology as an instrument for implementing parts of the African Harmonization agenda was

5 recognised by stakeholders on both continents and a pilot initiative involving 60 universities across Africa in 5 subject areas has just been completed. The 2011-2013 period has been particularly intensive with both bottom-up and top-down workshops and seminars, combining both regional and continental dimensions. A large number of European and African stakeholders (universities, associations, agencies) have been involved. China At the fourteenth EU-China Summit held in Beijing on 14 February 2012, leaders of the two sides agreed to establish the EU-China High Level People-to-People Dialogue (HPPD). The EU-China HPPD, the third pillar of EU-China relations, complements the two existing pillars – the High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue and the High Level Strategic Dialogue. The HPPD is the overarching mechanism, which accommodates all EU-China joint initiatives in the field of people to people exchanges. On 18 April 2012 the EU and China held in Brussels the first round of the HPPD. On that occasion Commissioner Vassiliou and State Councillor Liu Yandong signed an HPPD Joint Declaration and endorsed a document with follow-up

• actions. The next high level dialogue is planned in China in spring 2014.

United States The 2011 EU US Policy Dialogue in Washington DC reaffirmed the importance of education and training as key drivers of the exit strategy from the global economic crisis in the US and

• Europe. The parties launched a joint study on university business co-operation and

reaffirmed their commitment to the jointly funded Fulbright Schuman grant program, which provides valuable support to the transatlantic mobility of professionals conducting research in the field of US-EU relations. Australia The most recent policy dialogue held in Melbourne in March 2013 concentrated on the challenges posed by globalisation and rapid technological advance for tertiary education. The two parties reaffirmed their commitment to improving read-through between their respective qualifications frameworks. There was also a renewed commitment to the joint EU-Australia Education co-operation programme (called "Encounter" in Australia), whose annual calls allow for curriculum development and mobility projects, spanning the two hemispheres. Southern Africa In May 2012 a joint declaration on reinforcing cooperation and dialogue between the European Union and South Africa on education and training was signed. This dialogue will focus on issues such as mobility in higher education, equity and quality in post-school education and training, modernisation of higher education, teacher education and TVET. Cooperation is currently underway in the field of quality management in universities and will be followed by a Senior Officials Meeting and workshop on internalisation of higher education in October 2013 in Brussels. India

6 A first policy dialogue at Senior Official level was held in Brussels in 2011 and a second in Delhi in April 2013. Both sides agreed that education is important for facing current challenges, such as the uncertain global economy, the societal consequences of unemployment and needs for skills development. An action plan was agreed which will help focus the development of the dialogue through activities related to quality assurance, supporting better recognition and relevance in higher education and gathering information on successful practices and obstacles to mobility. Brazil A Joint Declaration on Education and Training was signed on May 2009. In 2011 at the EU- Brazil Summit, higher education featured in the resulting Joint Statement. The first EU-Brazil meeting of the policy dialogue on education took place on 21 November 2011 in Brazil. The issues included the mobility of students, academic staff, researchers, recognition, participation in EU academic cooperation programmes. An EU funded study on obstacles to academic mobility was finalised in October 2012 and will be the subject of a joint EU-Brazil dissemination seminar in 2013 and possible follow up actions. Mexico A Joint Declaration to enhance cooperation and dialogue on Education and Training was signed on June 2009. The Joint Declaration establishes the basis for regular exchanges of best practice on issues such as the efficiency, equity and the internationalisation and modernisation of higher education and training systems. A first EU-Mexico Higher Education Conference was held in 2010 followed up at political level by a Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) in November 2010. Parties agreed to carry out joint activities to further facilitate mobility and academic cooperation. A joint EU – Mexico study on internationalization and transparency tools was finalised in October 2012 and will be discussed in the second half of 2013. Russia To take stock of their successful cooperation in higher education cooperation programmes (Tempus, Erasmus Mundus, Marie Curie, Jean Monnet), the Commission and the Ministry of Education and Science decided in March 2013 to engage in a policy dialogue to discuss in particular the participation of Russia in the new generation of EU programmes in higher education and science and explore areas of mutual interest like U-Multirank, joint degree programmes, or the revamping of doctoral studies.