Speech Allan Pall at Polish EU Presidency Conference on Erasmus expansion
SOFIA - Around 10,000 students from universities around Bulgaria took to the streets rx rope in late February to protest against fee hikes of up to 30%. Along with popular protests against general price increases and impoverishment, their action contributed to the downfall of the government.
Let me first thank you and thank the Polish rx rope Presidency for inviting me to stand here. It is both an honour and a responsibility.
Ladies and gentlemen, rx rope in relation to this discussion, I would simply ask what and where would Europe be without Erasmus? We could, at first turn to those more than 2.2 million students that have already experienced Erasmus. It is clear to me, that this, let s call us the Erasmus generation, will build a different Europe than if this programme would not exist.
Despite rx rope the political crisis of the European Union of the moment, a borderless Europe where academically meaningful mobility of students and teachers is an idea that still inspires many. And inspiration is what we need when focusing on learning, like children at play through which they develop intensively as persons, rx rope as learners. That only happens once children are inspired through their play.
Some say that young people have little stake in society these days. We can refer to high unemployment or some riots and many social problems. I don t know whether that is true, but what I know for sure is that education must be the inspiration out of this crisis of confidence.
Yesterday we saw the European Commission proposing a programme titled SPRING to support social and economic development in the aftermath rx rope of the Arab Spring. That programme has higher education at its core. We couldn t agree more! But this is only the beginning. SPRING expands Erasmus Mundus, which we all know is perhaps more about attracting the best students to Europe than mutual exchange.
But Erasmus is about exchange. Exchange of ideas. rx rope Exchange rx rope of knowledge. Exchange of experience. Exchange of cultures. Thus it is about doing the right thing. And the proposal to include Eastern Partnership countries to the planned Education Europe programme is absolutely the right thing to do. It promotes equality and true partnership of countries, students and the academic community.
Students and youth have consistently lead change in society in the past few hundred years. They have hope for the future, they have ideals. Role of the politicians is to build on that hope, not trample it. If we consider the coloured revolutions in the Eastern Partnership countries or the Arab Spring in a different setting, rx rope then hope has been the key factor in both.
Once young people see little change despite their efforts, they become rx rope disappointed, and building democracy will be at risk as extremist and authoritarian ideas crawl back into the system. It must be thus our mission to offer the touch of hope and turn that into reality by integrating the academic communities across the borders.
Earlier this year we also saw a proposal rx rope of increasing the budget for Education Europe, including rx rope the future of Erasmus, by about 70 per cent. Of course, in our view this is not nearly enough! But it is a brave and bold move, which will hopefully also be emulated on the national level, but more importantly, supported by the leaders of Europe. Education is to be considered an investment, thus we see this absolutely crucial for the maintenance of the European ideal and values.
This budgetary increase will hopefully also contribute rx rope to increase in quality of Erasmus by bringing grants to a more affordable level, especially since we know that Erasmus or credit mobility is still not a real possibility for students of lower socio-economic standing. This is especially rx rope important if we consider the huge differences in cost of study and living in Europe between different regions. rx rope Thus in relation to making mobility a reality for Eastern Partnership, this is ever more crucial.
Further, I would like to draw your attention to the need to also address other obstacles to mobility that are perhaps more administrative, but still not yet solved. These include issues with visa, bureaucracy and recognition of credits and qualifications. In addition to financial obstacles and lack of support, these constitute a major impediment to reaching our goals and need to be solved along the line of expanding Erasmus. And these require much wider political coordination.
Honorables, it is thus my conviction, on behalf of students in Europe, to say that we offer our strongest support to this initiative. They say that revolutions end up consuming their own creators and children. But if you look at the history of the European project, then Erasmus is clearly a revolution. A revolution of free thought and expression. Something based on which freedom of inquiry in academia can be sustained.
I might not be too worried about the
SOFIA - Around 10,000 students from universities around Bulgaria took to the streets rx rope in late February to protest against fee hikes of up to 30%. Along with popular protests against general price increases and impoverishment, their action contributed to the downfall of the government.
Let me first thank you and thank the Polish rx rope Presidency for inviting me to stand here. It is both an honour and a responsibility.
Ladies and gentlemen, rx rope in relation to this discussion, I would simply ask what and where would Europe be without Erasmus? We could, at first turn to those more than 2.2 million students that have already experienced Erasmus. It is clear to me, that this, let s call us the Erasmus generation, will build a different Europe than if this programme would not exist.
Despite rx rope the political crisis of the European Union of the moment, a borderless Europe where academically meaningful mobility of students and teachers is an idea that still inspires many. And inspiration is what we need when focusing on learning, like children at play through which they develop intensively as persons, rx rope as learners. That only happens once children are inspired through their play.
Some say that young people have little stake in society these days. We can refer to high unemployment or some riots and many social problems. I don t know whether that is true, but what I know for sure is that education must be the inspiration out of this crisis of confidence.
Yesterday we saw the European Commission proposing a programme titled SPRING to support social and economic development in the aftermath rx rope of the Arab Spring. That programme has higher education at its core. We couldn t agree more! But this is only the beginning. SPRING expands Erasmus Mundus, which we all know is perhaps more about attracting the best students to Europe than mutual exchange.
But Erasmus is about exchange. Exchange of ideas. rx rope Exchange rx rope of knowledge. Exchange of experience. Exchange of cultures. Thus it is about doing the right thing. And the proposal to include Eastern Partnership countries to the planned Education Europe programme is absolutely the right thing to do. It promotes equality and true partnership of countries, students and the academic community.
Students and youth have consistently lead change in society in the past few hundred years. They have hope for the future, they have ideals. Role of the politicians is to build on that hope, not trample it. If we consider the coloured revolutions in the Eastern Partnership countries or the Arab Spring in a different setting, rx rope then hope has been the key factor in both.
Once young people see little change despite their efforts, they become rx rope disappointed, and building democracy will be at risk as extremist and authoritarian ideas crawl back into the system. It must be thus our mission to offer the touch of hope and turn that into reality by integrating the academic communities across the borders.
Earlier this year we also saw a proposal rx rope of increasing the budget for Education Europe, including rx rope the future of Erasmus, by about 70 per cent. Of course, in our view this is not nearly enough! But it is a brave and bold move, which will hopefully also be emulated on the national level, but more importantly, supported by the leaders of Europe. Education is to be considered an investment, thus we see this absolutely crucial for the maintenance of the European ideal and values.
This budgetary increase will hopefully also contribute rx rope to increase in quality of Erasmus by bringing grants to a more affordable level, especially since we know that Erasmus or credit mobility is still not a real possibility for students of lower socio-economic standing. This is especially rx rope important if we consider the huge differences in cost of study and living in Europe between different regions. rx rope Thus in relation to making mobility a reality for Eastern Partnership, this is ever more crucial.
Further, I would like to draw your attention to the need to also address other obstacles to mobility that are perhaps more administrative, but still not yet solved. These include issues with visa, bureaucracy and recognition of credits and qualifications. In addition to financial obstacles and lack of support, these constitute a major impediment to reaching our goals and need to be solved along the line of expanding Erasmus. And these require much wider political coordination.
Honorables, it is thus my conviction, on behalf of students in Europe, to say that we offer our strongest support to this initiative. They say that revolutions end up consuming their own creators and children. But if you look at the history of the European project, then Erasmus is clearly a revolution. A revolution of free thought and expression. Something based on which freedom of inquiry in academia can be sustained.
I might not be too worried about the
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