EFIL, together with EEE-YFU, OBESSU and ATEE calls for the adoption of a School Mobility Charter in the new Erasmus programme post 2020. You can read the full policy paper here.
The paper has been presented by EFIL at the European Parliament on 4 September at the event ‘Pupil and VET Mobility in the new Erasmus programme’ organised by the EP Youth Intergroup and MEP Emilian Pavel.
The mid-term evaluation of the Erasmus+ programme shows that many schools, in particular small ones or with fewer resources, are struggling with drafting and managing project applications and dealing with aspects related to risk management and support of the exchange students.
An Erasmus School Mobility Charter could be a way for organisations experienced in pupil and/or school staff mobility to support and reach out to schools struggling to use the programme, and access a simplified procedure to apply for a number of mobilities every year under Key Action 1 (KA1), for the whole duration of the funding programme.
Charter holders should meet certain criteria (i.e.: inclusion of newcomers and evidence of outreach, quality of learning mobility, experience in the development of internationalisation plans for educational institutions, and experience in managing grants), in order to submit simplified KA1 applications with a consortium of partners (such as schools, pupil exchange organisations, and public authorities) which could vary over the years.
Thanks to their expertise in mobility and their outreach, non-profit pupil exchange organisations can be crucial partners in supporting a variety of schools in applying for projects and managing motilities, thus making quality mobility programmes more accessible, not only to schools that have the capacity to engage in EU-funded projects.