July 7, 2022 | Thursday
Writes: Mimika Dobroshi – Coordinator at Kosovo Erasmus+ Office
Back in 2005 when I studied in Bruges in Belgium, every European student had an Erasmus story from their college years, always with a language they learned while abroad. Hearing for the first time about this programme, I felt inspired and at the same time envious, as we lacked, back then, such opportunities for academic and student mobility in our part of Europe.
Fast-forward to 2014 and some access was made available, through Erasmus+ which until now has grown both in volume of topics covered (higher education, training, youth and sports) and in size – stretching way beyond our geographical continent.
The Erasmus programme was established in 1987 and is among the most popular EU programmes in education and training. During its first year, only 3,244 students went abroad from 11 EU countries — Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Erasmus+ programme, a programme that has strived, for decades, to increase learning experiences across borders and continents. To quote Commissioner Mariya Gabriel “university is the door to discovering Europe and the values of the European Union.” Erasmus+ program achieves just that by promoting learning mobility of individuals and groups, as well as cooperation, quality, inclusion, and equality at the level of organisations and policies. It covers higher education and training; the field of youth; promotes learning mobility of sport staff, as well as cooperation, quality, inclusion, at the level of sport organisations and sport policies.
According to European Commission, over 12 million young people benefitted from Erasmus+ programme to date, acquiring skills and languages, forging friendships, partnerships, and opening minds. Recent studies have shown Erasmus+ positively impacts the quality of life and career prospects of students — during their course abroad, and long after. The programme has been shown to drive innovation and social inclusion in higher education. Most importantly, it helps students discover what they want to do after they graduate.
Only in Kosovo from 2015-2020, there were 3880 students and academic/administrative staff moving to Europe and 2074 moving to Kosovo through the international credit mobility action of the Erasmus+ programme. Until 2020, higher education institutions in Kosovo gained 38 Capacity Building projects in the field of Higher Education, 508 International Credit Mobility projects and 2 Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters projects. From 2021, there was 1 Erasmus Mundus Design Measures project and 35 Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Scholarships were granted to students from Kosovo from 2014-2021. In very tough competition, higher education insitutions in Kosovo gained 3 Jean Monnet projects until 2021.
Capacity Building projects in the field of Vocational Education and Training, Youth and Sport are new actions open for Kosovo since 2021 and we are expecting these actions to drive interest and success.
With 2022 being the European Year of the Youth, join us as we celebrate 35th anniversary of Erasmus+ through promotion and dialogue, focusing on elevating young voices through actions of Erasmus+ programme. Kosovo having the youngest population in Europe, such initiatives have an enormous impact for our youth – empowering, connecting, and broadening their horizons through opportunities implied in the Erasmus+ programme.
| Erasmus+ actions open for Kosovo are as followed: – International Credit Mobility – Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters – Erasmus Mundus Design Measures – Capacity Building in the field of Higher Education – Capacity Building in the field of Vocational Education and Training – Capacity Building in the field of Youth – Capacity Building in the field of Sport – Jean Monnet – Virtual Exchange. |
If you want to apply for any of the above mentioned actions please visit Kosovo Erasmus+ Office website:
For more details information, you can consult Erasmus+ Guide 2022 at the following link.
You can also book an individual consultation with the KEO staff by sending us an e-mail to the: office@erasmuspluskosovo.org