EI/ESIB seminar on mobility of students and staff

The 4th official Bologna Seminar, focusing on the mobility of staff and students, will be held in London on the 8th-9th February this year. This event is co-organised with Education International (EI) and outlines ESIB’s good cooperation with this important organisation representing teachers and education workers worldwide.

During the Bergen Summit in May 2005, Education Ministers stressed the importance of mobility, and in the Communiqué, this is mentioned as one of the three main priorities for the Bologna Process over the coming two years.

Particular attention is given to portability, loans and grants, visa regulations, working permits and recognition of study period. The Social Dimension is also a crucial element of any discussion on mobility and is stressed as the second priority in the Bergen Communiqué.

This seminar, entitles “Making Bologna a Reality” will be a great opportunity to sum up all the improvements made in the area of mobility. One of the key points will be the Social Dimension of mobility since this event is organised along with the Official Working Group: “Social Dimension and Data on Staff and Student Mobility”.

The seminar will open with two studies: one on staff mobility (presented by EI) and one on student mobility (presented by ESIB). ESIB’s study will aim to offer a general overview on the phenomenon of student mobility and will present the most important data as well as depict the obstacles to successful mobility. During various panel sessions participants will focus on two issues: individual and institutional responsibility for increasing mobility; and staff and students realising the potential of mobility. During the parallel workshop sessions participants will have the opportunity to take part in four workshops. One of these, entitled “Student mobility – a factor for societal and economic growth?” will be moderated by Christine Scholz from ESIBs Commodification of Education Committee.

The key objective of the seminar is to raise the issues currently affecting successful staff and student mobility amongst stakeholders. For European students it is important to voice the importance of student mobility, which, so far has been largely overlooked by the Bologna Process. It is also important for students to promote mobility. The discussion on mobility of both students and staff is a significant step in ESIB’s preparation of the Ministerial Summit in London (May, 2007).