Ireland to fund Erasmus scheme for Northern Irish
students
Boris
Johnson had said the UK would no longer participate in the exchange program.
Students
from Northern Ireland will need to temporarily register with Irish higher
education institutions to take part in the scheme |
BY LAURENS
CERULUS
December
27, 2020 12:00 pm
https://www.politico.eu/article/ireland-fund-erasmus-northern-irish-students/
The Irish
government will fund Erasmus+ grants for Northern Irish students so they can
continue to participate in Europe’s flagship student exchange program after the
United Kingdom pulls out of the scheme.
Dublin
agreed “to extend the benefits of Erasmus+ to students in Northern Ireland even
after Brexit,” the country’s Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris told
broadcaster RTÉ late on Saturday, adding that this was “a very practical
example of us wanting to continue to collaborate with Northern Ireland
post-Brexit.”
Harris said
it was a “permanent commitment” that would last as long as students wanted to
make use of it. “The cost is relatively low … But it’s not a cost, it’s an
investment,” he said, adding the estimated cost would be around €2 million per
year.
The
Erasmus+ scheme funds fees and costs for university students to spend part of
their program in another EU or associated country. Students from Northern
Ireland will need to temporarily register with Irish higher education
institutions to take part in the scheme, RTÉ reported.
The move by
the Irish government came after U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this
week that his country would no longer participate in the popular program from
2021, following the end of the Brexit transition period.
Johnson
told reporters it was a “tough decision” but that the scheme was “extremely
expensive” and that “our arrangements mean the U.K. exchequer more or less
loses out on the deal.” The U.K. will instead launch a domestic replacement
program called the Turing scheme, he said.
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