The Erasmus Programme After Brexit ****************************************************************************************** * The Erasmus Programme after Brexit ****************************************************************************************** March 29 was supposed to have been the day the UK officially left the European Union. Whil happen, it appears likely Great Britain’s departure may come as soon as April 12. With the uncertainties of Brexit, some worry the Erasmus+ student exchange programme will But Dr. Ivana Herglová, in charge of Erasmus+ at Charles University says that for the time such worries are unfounded: arrangements have already been made covering this academic yea so students should not register any negative effects. In our interview, I began by asking Dr. Herglová about how Erasmus had changed study aboar first introduced. “In the past it was definitely much more difficult for students to study abroad. In the ea Czech students were able to but usually it was only possible if they got some specific fun Ministry of Education, and that wasn’t a widely available option. The introduction of the in the Czech Republic changed that and made things much, much easier. When we joined just ago, suddenly hundreds of students were able to study abroad each year for a semester or t “Some studied at some very famous universities, others at less-known schools, but certainl very interesting. They got the chance to learn and use a new language, to spend time abroa institutions and to explore possibilities certainly in different countries.” Is it true that interest hit a peak and has since tapered off somewhat? “Well since about 2014/15, things changed a little, we have seen a drop in numbers or rath stagnated and remained at the same level instead of growing further and several factors th playing a role. For one, the cost of travel and accommodation has grown more accessible so prefer to go on their own for shorter periods for vacations rather than study where they w fulfil university requirements. “So the market appears to have been consolidated a little compared to the earlier days whe Erasmus was very popular and only went up. Nowadays, Charles University sends around 1,300 annually and we get about 2,000 international students here.” Even if interest has, as you say hit a certain plateau, I have rarely heard a negative wor most students who took part say one thing and that is that it changed their life. “It definitely change their lives, they make a lot of new friends, and go out with their p know the city as well as other places in Central Europe, from Vienna to Krakow. The experi for someone it might be less connected with serious study but simply be a chance to go abr “Someone else might come to Charles University because of their interest in Czech history and they tend to get a lot out of the experience. Others may take only international class to groups of Erasmus students: paradoxically they return home knowing people from France, elsewhere but only one or two Czechs, or learn relatively little about this country while That seems a shame, certainly… “That is one negative and I try to encourage students here to learn more about this countr taste for life not just in the capital but also outside Prague.” That said, an opportunity like this can spark something in someone’s life, set in motion s they didn’t expect, in a way not even they expected… “That is true and I believe that is sometimes the case.” The programme changes every seven years – is it the case that Erasmus as a whole will be t in the next cycle? “That is a good question. Erasmus is certainly one of the EU’s flagship programmes and an funding is increasing and that means they are willing to send more and more students abroa possibility is open almost to all, not just those with the best academic results and I thi is something that the EU will continue to support.” Ok. The U.K.: it became clear over recent weeks that the United Kingdom would not leave by it had planned to do under Brexit – so what now? We will see some kind of Brexit – there c delay or a long delay but either way how will Brexit affect the Erasmus programme? “Funnily enough, Brexit has had something of a positive impact when it comes to Charles Un the vote to Leave, a number of British universities were very proud and did not really wan But the vote saw many of them contact us with the aim of signing agreements. Today, as for the big UK universities are covered under Erasmus agreements. “We have 164 agreements for 2018/2019 and for the following academic year 155 of them have This means we really have a great amount of cooperation. Each of the contracts represents can go abroad and two who can come to us. But in practice we never used up all of the spot up to 300 students from the UK but what we have at the moment is about one-third of that a 107 of our students going there.” If - when - Brexit goes through – how will things change? “Those that are eligible under Erasmus+, are programme countries which fall under the stan scheme within Europe (EU member states, candidate countries or EFTA members like Norway th part as they send extra money to the EU budget), partner countries like Israel or Canada a States (outside the EU, not a candidate country, or the EFTA) which can participate in a p International Credit Mobility and there the application process is very, very difficult an a few places for students. “As for the arrangement if Great Britain leaves, we don’t yet know how they could be defin approach they might take. They might follow Norway’s example and could pay extra funds to in Erasmus+. Or they could follow a similar path to Switzerland which was blocked from the their immigration referendum, but they fund both outgoing and incoming students within the programme. “But I don’t think that model would work for the UK. I think that if the UK does not sign EFTA for example, then there would have to be a programme created especially for them and they would fund only outbound students.” It doesn’t sound like an easy situation – a lot of micromanagement and adjustments across far more complex with Brexit. “Yes (laughs). Let’s face it, Brexit is something we had to dedicate many, many hours to. there was a lot of correspondence weekly from UK universities and there was a lot of analy although the UK was supposed to leave on Friday, March 29, we still know nothing about how really be. “A good point is we have an alternative financial source to fund the mobilities of Czech s – the Ministry of Education gives to each public university in the Czech Republic a certai to support their internationalisation and a big part of it is used to co-finance the Erasm anyway. We can use this money to fund exchanges in an alternative study abroad programme w should the UK be no longer eligible to participate in the Erasmus programme. “Generally. all we can do is hope for a positive outcome. But, as I have said, Charles Uni matter sorted for this academic year and 2019/2020 so students will not feel any changes. “Our faculties have been informed they can send exchange students, their students can appl mobilities in the next year. We have all those agreements in place and UK universities are contact with us so even if things need to be changed, they are ready to sign alternative a outside the Erasmus programme if it will no longer be available. “The only thing we don’t know is whether it will still be under Erasmus or have a differen