European education and training programmes

Information

The individual member states of the European Union (EU) are responsible for their own education and training systems and they decide on the content of those systems. The European Union may provide funding and support to supplement the actions taken by member states. The current EU programme providing this support is the Lifelong Learning Programme. The programme was established by Decision No 1720/2006/EC of 15 November 2006.

The Lifelong Learning Programme

The Lifelong Learning Programme covers the period 2007-2013, and is the successor to the former Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci and eLearning programmes. It supports projects and activities that foster interchange, cooperation and mobility between education and training systems within the EU. There are 4 main parts to the programme:

• The Comenius programme deals with the teaching and learning needs of all those in pre-school and school education up to the end of upper secondary education, and the institutions and organisations providing such education
• The Erasmus programme deals with the teaching and learning needs of all those in formal higher education, including trans-national student placements in enterprise, and the institutions and organisations providing or facilitating such education and training
• The Leonardo da Vinci programme deals with the teaching and learning needs of all those in vocational education and training, other than in third level including placement in enterprise of people other than students, as well as the institutions and organisations providing or facilitating such education and training
• The Grundtvig programme deals with the teaching and learning needs of those in all forms of adult education, as well as the institutions and organisations providing or facilitating such education

There is also a transversal programme which deals with the following activities:

• Policy cooperation and innovation in lifelong learning
• Promotion of language learning
• Development of innovative ICT-based content, services, pedagogies and practice for lifelong learning
• Dissemination and exploitation of results of actions supported under the Lifelong Learning Programme and previous related programmes, and exchange of good practice

There is further information about the transversal programme in More about this topic.

The Jean Monnet programme which supports institutions and activities in the field of European integration is also a part of the new programme.

Participating countries

The Lifelong Learning Programme is currently available to:

• All 27 member states of the EU
• Turkey
• The 3 other member states of the EEA (Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein)

The programme will also be available to other candidate countries (Croatia) and to the Western Balkan countries when specific agreements are signed with them. Discussions are being held with Switzerland about its participation in the programme. Certain aspects of the Jean Monnet Programme are available worldwide.

Co-operation with other countries

The EU also has education co-operation programmes with the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

National agencies

European education and training programmes are generally managed on a joint basis by the national agencies in each of the participating countries and the European Commission itself. In Ireland, the national agencies involved are the Higher Education Authority, Léargas, FÁS and the International Section of the Department of Education and Skills. The role of the national agency involves:

• Publicising European Union programmes and offering advice and information
• Providing assistance in finding project partners in other EU countries
• Providing advice and guidance, for example, on the submission of applications
• Providing feedback on the way the programme is working

National agencies are directly involved in the management of certain sub-projects under the major education or vocational training programmes. Their responsibilities for these projects include:

• Selection of projects
• Distribution of grants
• Monitoring duties
• Financial management duties.

Rates

Funding and grants for European education exchange programmes and projects vary greatly and you should contact the agencies responsible for more details.

How to apply

Your first point of contact for general questions about the Lifelong Learning Programme should be the national agencies involved (the Higher Education Authority, Léargas and FÁS). Even where you have to submit your application directly to the European Commission, it will be useful to discuss your application with the relevant national agency beforehand. This can make a significant difference to the quality of your application.