United Kingdom
UK students lose
Erasmus+ programme - but they'll have an alternative
The UK will have a new international studies programme
called Turing — named after Alan Turing, a British mathematician whose work
goes from computing to artificial intelligence.
P3
December 25,
2020, 14:39
Students in the
UK will no longer be able to participate in the Erasmus+ programme. The
exchange programme is outside the agreement between the country and the
European Union, which closed on Thursday the terms of the new economic and
political partnership and concluded the "Brexit" negotiations days
before the deadline for the transition period was exhausted.
British Prime
Minister Boris Johnson has said the country will create its own programme, in
conjunction with "the best universities in the world." It is intended
to give students the "opportunity" to go not only to European
universities, but also to "the best universities in the world".
"Because we want our young people to experience the immense European
intellectual stimulus, but also from the whole world," he said in remarks
quoted by The Guardian.
The program will
be named after Alan Turing, a British mathematician whose work goes from
computing to artificial intelligence and who was known, above all, for helping
to decode German communications during World War II.
In January, Boris
Johnson claimed, recalling the same newspaper, that the programme was not under
any threat. However, on Thursday, confirming the end of the partnership, the
governor admitted that it was a "difficult decision" and justified it
with the cost of the program.
Also quoted by The
Guardian, The University of Sussex vice-chancellor Adam Tickell said leaving
the programme is "a real sadness" and also Vivienne Stern, director
of internationalisation at UK universities, said it was "extremely
disappointing." However, he added that the new program could include
scholarships not only to study, but also to work and volunteer.
UK students lose Erasmus membership in Brexit deal
Europe-wide scheme will be replaced with UK scheme named
after computing pioneer Alan Turing
Richard Adams
Education editor
Thu 24 Dec 2020
17.38 GMT
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/dec/24/uk-students-lose-erasmus-membership-in-brexit-deal
Students and
young people from Britain will no longer take part in the Europe-wide Erasmus
exchange programme after the UK failed to reach agreement over its post-Brexit
membership.
Boris Johnson
said the UK would instead establish its own scheme with “the best universities
in the world”, to be named after the British computing pioneer Alan Turing.
Michel Barnier,
the EU’s chief negotiator, said the government “decided not to participate in
the Erasmus exchange programme” after the two sides were unable to agree on the
cost of Britain’s continued membership.
The omission of
Erasmus from the UK-EU deal ends a scheme that had offered student exchanges as
well as school links, work experience and apprenticeships across Europe since
1987. Under the latest version of the scheme, Erasmus+, around 200,000 people
have taken part including around 15,000 British university students each year.
Adam Tickell, the
vice-chancellor of the University of Sussex, said: “Leaving Erasmus is a real
sadness, a scheme whose original foundations were laid at Sussex. Over the
years the Erasmus programme transformed the lives of thousands of young
people.”
In January,
Johnson assured MPs there was “no threat to the Erasmus scheme”. But confirming
the end of membership, he said on Thursday: “On Erasmus, it was a tough
decision.” He claimed the UK “loses out” financially because of the larger
number of EU nationals coming to study in the UK.
“So what we are
doing is producing a UK scheme for students to go around the world,” the prime
minister said. “It will be called the Turing scheme, named after Alan Turing,
so students will have the opportunity not just to go to European universities
but to go to the best universities in the world. Because we want our young
people to experience the immense intellectual stimulation of Europe but also of
the whole world.”
Vivienne Stern,
the director of Universities UK International, said: “It’s hugely disappointing
after all this that we are no longer in the scheme, but it’s not surprising – I
understand that the European commission was not willing to budge on cost.”
Stern said she
was pleased at the prospect of a new national plan to fund outward mobility,
which she hoped would meet the costs of young people travelling overseas.
“As I understand
it, there will be grants for young people not just in universities but broader
than that, to support study and possibly working and volunteering. These experiences
help graduates gain employment, especially for students from low-income
backgrounds who are the least likely to be able to travel abroad otherwise,”
Stern said.
Any Erasmus
replacement needed to be “ambitious and fully funded”, she added. “It must also
deliver significant opportunities for future students to go global, which the
Erasmus programme has provided to date.”
The new scheme is
not expected to fund students coming to the UK, as Erasmus does now, which
suggests British universities will miss out on a source of income. A report
earlier this year said ending Erasmus membership would cost the UK more than
£200m a year.
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