OBESSU attends roundtable on “Erasmus for All”

Mrs Katarina Nevedalova, MEP for S&D, organised a round table at the European Parliament on 5 June 2012 inviting policymakers, civil society, social partners and other key stakeholders to reflect upon the Commission’s draft proposal on the new funding programme “Erasmus for all” and especially its accessibility. Some important points were also discussed like the disappearance of operating grants for European networks. OBESSU Secretary General Viviana Galli represented the European Secondary School Students in the meeting.Representing school students, thus young people in formal education, Erasmus for All is important for OBESSU since we are both involved in education and training and in youth work. The importance of such events is to link decision-makers with civil society which will hopefully benefit from and be strengthened by the new programme. Some important points that were raised:

• All sectors should be given equal importance. The proposal has too much emphasis on higher education: secondary general and vocational education and training as well as non-formal education should receive the deserved relevance in the programme.
• We call for clear recognition of non-formal education (NFE). NFE is an extremely valuable form of learning and complementary to formal education. It can be extremely useful to reach the benchmarks of Education and Training 2020 (ET2020) as well as the education target of Europe2020, as for example the decrease to 10% of early school leavers.
• The regulation is too focused on employability. The main aim of the programme should be to empower active and responsible citizens, focusing on their personal development and soft skills.
• The European dimension and citizenship should be a strong element in the regulation and the role of European networks and platforms should be emphasised more. Such platforms are the real bridge between the European Union and citizens at national and grass roots level.
• The new programme should include the structured dialogue in education and training. Building on the positive example of the structured dialogue in the youth field, the regulation should be the document where finally the EU engages in dialogue in education and training at all levels. After years of discussion about such kind of process, the inclusion in the regulation will be a positive signal of engagement. The structured dialogue in E&T will also improve the inclusiveness and accessibility of the programme, offering actors at all level a say in EU decision-making.