We call for more pupil mobility in Erasmus+

EEE-YFU, EFIL, and OBESSU released a joint position paper about pupil mobility in Erasmus+. We call for more investments in pupil mobility  and for greater involvement of non-for-profit organisations in the management of pupil mobility schemes in the future Erasmus+.

Pupil mobility is suffering in the current Erasmus +

With the previous “Comenius Programme” being integrated in the broader Erasmus+ framework, individual pupil mobility is now a less visible and certainly not prominent possibility offered as part of KA2 Strategic Partnerships.
In the current Erasmus+ scheme, mobility of school students can be promoted only through partnerships among schools, which are the only actors involved in the organisation of the exchange programme. The new framework for pupils’ mobility within Erasmus+ has resulted in an increased burden for schools willing to submit project applications, which lack the resources, support, and enabling measures necessary to provide quality, accessible, and inclusive pupil exchanges.

Invest more on pupil learning mobility for a united Europe

Under the calls 2014-2015, “Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only” were granted 169,02 millions euros, representing only 4,5% of the overall Erasmus+ budget. We assisted to a 54% decrease in the number of mobile school students, in comparison with the Individual Pupil Mobility strand of Comenius Program. While 1739 pupil mobility were realised in the school-years 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 (under Comenius), only 797 were realised in the school years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.

The mid-term evaluation of Erasmus+ Programme represents a unique opportunity to invert the current trend and foster school students’ exchanges and their key role for European integration. In fact, investing in the development of the young individual and in the acquisition of key competences that are vital in our interdependent and interconnected world, is crucial for a united Europe.

Open-up to partnership with non-formal education providers

We believe that non-profit organisations can be crucial partners in supporting a variety of schools in applying for projects and managing administrative, risk management and organisational aspects of exchanges, as well as in providing quality educational support. These partnerships would allow formal and non-formal education providers to work in synergy and benefit from each other’s competences.

In fact, from our knowledge, schools are informed about opportunities within Erasmus+, but they do not have the human resources and capacity to apply for funding and managing an EU-funded project from an administrative perspective. Therefore, cooperation with non-formal education providers for submitting and managing Erasmus+ projects on school students’ mobility would provide support to schools in their process of internationalisation, thus making quality mobility programmes accessible to more school students.