Almost two years ago, it was reported that educational program of the European Commission will change its face. So, on the 19th of November, 2013 the European Parliament adopted a new program of the European Union in the field of education, training, youth development and sports. It was called "Erasmus plus." The new program brings together several EU initiatives (Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci, Comenius, Grundtvig, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Alfa, Edulink etc.) in order to better understand the candidates opportunities.
The "Erasmus Plus" is designed for seven years (2014-2020) and starts from January 2014. Its budget is of 14.7 million euros - a 40% higher than the current budget programs. Along with the increase in the budget the number of participants (nearly 4 million) has increased as well, who will be able to take advantage of the new program.
The "Erasmus plus" program is aimed at improving the skills, expanding employment opportunities and the support for the modernization of education. It provides more opportunities for vocational training (VET), structured and long-term cooperation between universities and companies to develop innovative ways to share knowledge and much more.
Program will consist of three key components: educational mobility - at least 63% of the budget (the mobility of teachers, students, student loans, joint master programs, etc..) university cooperation - not less than 28% (the strategic partnership between education / training and youth organizations and other relevant subjects, and cooperation with the countries of the "third world", etc..) and support in education policy - 4.2% (the recognition of education; policy dialogue with the countries of the "third world" - between international organizations, and others.).
Although the program "Erasmus Plus" is new, our university is familiar with some initiatives of the European Union. To date, 5 projects of Erasmus Mundus (EMERGE, EWENT, TEMPO, EUROEAST, ACTIVE) are in the piggy bank of "KPI". In 2013, our university has won 6 TEMPUS projects. But it is impossible to give it up. So we hope that we will not only raise the level of international cooperation, but also firmly secure it, also through participation in the new program "Erasmus plus."