20% of students mobile by 2020
October 4th-5th: The closing conference of the 20th Anniversary of the Erasmus mobility programme celebrations was an overriding success. Close to a thousand participants were brought together for a final conference including discussions on the history and the past of the event. Jacques Delors (President of the Commission in 1987) recorded a video message for the gathered participants and many key people took to the microphone.
This promotional event was also a key political event, setting the stage for the next twenty years and reiterating the focus on mobility as vital to a successful European society. Importantly, the Portuguese presidency announced that the Erasmus programme has to greatly increase its’ social dimension – more students from diverse backgrounds should be able to participate.
ESU, using the slogan “20% of students mobile by 2020”, outlined the four main areas in which we believe that the Erasmus programme still needs improvement. Firstly, is is vital that the Quality Assurance mechanisms for Erasmus be developed as soon as possible. Secondly, language courses must be freely available at the home institutions. Thirdly mobility grants must be increased and made more readily available to more students. Last but not least, information about the Erasmus programme must be improved and more available.
ESU commits itself to watching the Presidency develop closely, to continue to widely promote mobility and to increase our focus on the Erasmus programme.
