Lack of foreign-language skills is holding back Erasmus

Citation

(2003), "Lack of foreign-language skills is holding back Erasmus", Education + Training, Vol. 45 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2003.00445bab.007

Lack of foreign-language skills is holding back Erasmus

Lack of foreign-language skills is holding back Erasmus

Inadequate teaching of foreign languages is holding back development of the EU Erasmus programme, which aims to boost higher-education co-operation in Europe, says European education and training commissioner Viviane Reding. She urged universities to appoint more foreign staff and expand distance learning through the internet, in order to open up universities internationally and create more inter-university networks. She said she aimed for two million Erasmus students by 2007 and three million by 2010, and for the number of Erasmus grants to be increased without cutting their value. Mrs Reding was speaking during Erasmus week, staged to celebrate the programme achieving a million students since its inception.

Meanwhile, Pat Cox, European Parliament president, said: "Of the many costs in the EU budget, investment in exchange schemes like Erasmus is among the least. But in terms of its positive effects, it is among the best. Schemes like Erasmus produce lifetime results." Graham Watson, leader of the Liberal group of Euro-MPs, commented: "The EU's highly successful student-exchange programme provides young people with invaluable opportunities and should be extended."