40 million euros for Polish Erasmus+ students in 2015
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In 2015, Poland will have access to around 100 million euros for the implementation of the EU Erasmus+ programme. 40 million euros of this pool may be spent on activities related to higher education, especially for travel abroad of students.
European Union programme Erasmus+ runs since January 2014. It replaced several former educational programmes, including "Lifelong Learning Programme" and "Youth in Action". It will run until 2020, and it has a total budget of € 14.4 billion. In Poland, it is implemented by three ministries: of science and higher education, national education and sport and tourism.
Poland will receive approximately one billion euros from this pool. "In 2015, it will be about 100 million, but from 2016 to 2017, the amounts will grow" - told PAP Mirosław Marczewski, Director General of the Foundation for the Development of the Education System, which distributes the Erasmus+ funds in Poland.
40 percent of the amount available to Poland in Erasmus+ is allocated to higher education. "We have about 40 million euros a year for higher education. About 90 percent of the money is allocated to the mobility of students, and 10 percent to academics" - explained Marczewski.
These funds are used to fund travel of students who take internships and part of their studies abroad, and stays of foreign students in Poland. This amount may also be spent on travel of academics who wish to teach abroad, taking part in training and conferences. "Poland is a leader in mobility of researchers. We have about 6 thousand trips abroad of Polish researchers per annum for various types of conferences, lectures, training. Mobility of students reaches about 16 thousand people a year" - said Marczewski.
The money earmarked for higher education may also be used to invite scientists from other countries to teach classes in Poland. A few million from the budget of the Erasmus+ can also be used to carry out so-called strategic partnerships between higher education institutions. This will allow universities to develop offers concerning, for example, joint programs of study. In addition, higher education institutions can also apply for funds that can be won in central European Union competitions.
"Today, the availability of Erasmus+ is much greater than when we started in 1998. Back then only a few hundred people could study abroad, then a few thousand, it is now more than ten thousand. For three years, their number has been stabilizing, which is also due to the decrease in the number of students in Poland. But keep in mind that Erasmus trips are still elite. They benefit a total of 16 thousand out of 1.4 million students in Poland" - said Marczewski.
In 2014 Poland launched more than 1,200 projects funded under Erasmus+. Their total budget has already exceeded 95 million euros. "This is not the whole amount. We continue to contract projects received in recent competitions. We will certainly contract more than 100 million euros" - said Marczewski.
In addition to funding for higher education, the money from Erasmus+ are allocated to activities related to school education, vocational education and training, adult education.
Information for institutions wishing to submit their projects in the programme is available at http://erasmusplus.org.pl/
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland
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