Fears over future funding of student exchange programme
ALEANDER BALZAN
16.03.2006 @ 17:33 CET
The European student exchange programme has seen another rise in numbers during the last academic year, with the greatest increase registered in the ten new member states.
Statistics released by the European Commission on Thursday (16 March) showed that in 2004/5 student participation increased by 6% while the number of teachers taking part in the exchanges increased by 13%.
144,037 students participated in Erasmus Exchanges in the last academic year (Photo: European Commission)
New member states witnessed the greatest increase in participants with student exchanges rising by 36% and teacher exchanges by almost 77%.
Education commissioner Jan Figel welcomed the latest statistics.
"These figures reveal that the new member states are fully taking part in the benefits of membership of the EU" said the commissioner.
"This is all the more significant as we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Erasmus programme next year", he added.
Despite the increase in the use of the programme, it is unclear whether there will be enough funds available to cater for the programme in the coming years.
The present budget for the Erasmus programme is €165 million per year.
As the number of students participating in Erasmus is expected to rise to 3 million between the years 2007-2013, both the Commission and the European Parliament are lobbying for more funds.
The European Commission has asked for €250 million annually to be put towards the programme from 2007.
However, member states in December, as part of overall negotiations on the EU budget, suggested a decrease of 40% in the funding of the Life Long Learning programme, which also includes Erasmus.
Negotiations are still underway with commission officials hoping that Thursday’s positive results may persuade member states not to cut the money for education.
Spain remained the most popular destination for students, with 25,551 students going to the country during the last academic year. France and Germany were also popular taking on 20,519 and 17,273 students respectively.
Germany was the preferred destination for teachers participating in the Erasmus exchanges hosting some 2,623 teachers.
For the first time last year, Turkish students were able to participate in the programme with 1,142 students taking advantage of the opportunity.
In total, 144,037 students participated in an Erasmus exchange.
