EU INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES AND POSSIBILITIES OF CO-OPERATION WITH TURKEY WITHIN THE FRAME OF THESE PROGRAMMES ALENA RUSINOVÁ Silesian University in Opava, School of Business Administration in Karviná Univerzitní nám. 76, CZ-733 40 Karviná Tel.: + 420 - 69 / 6398 221 Fax: + 420 - 69 / 6398 317 e–mail: [email protected] PATRICIE BARTOŠOVÁ Silesian University in Opava, International Relation Office Bezručovo nám. 13, CZ-746 01 Opava Tel.: + 420 - 653 / 684 270 Fax: + 420 - 653 / 218 019 e–mail: [email protected] Key Words: international relation, international programmes, educational programmes, vocational training, students mobility, teachers mobility Introduction The aim of the performance is to approach some of EU international programmes and evoke a discussion on possibilities of co-operation and preparation of educational programmes within the frame of programmes offered by the EU. LEONARDO DA VINCI programme The aim of this programme is to support the development of the quality, innovations and European dimension in the systems and practice of the special education through multinational projects. In accordance with the decision of the European Council, the organisations from 15 EU countries, associated countries of the Central and Eastern Europe, including the Czech Republic, Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Cyprus, Malta and Turkey can participate in the above-mentioned programme. SOCRATES Erasmus The goal of the programme is to strengthen the European dimension in the education on all the levels and within the whole extent of the educational process: ! to improve both the quality and quantity in the education of foreign languages, to support language knowledge also with the teachers who are not foreign language teachers, and thus to enable wider integration of teachers into projects, ! to support co-operation and mobility in education, especially by increasing the exchanges of teachers among particular educational institutions, 364 ! to support open study (distant study) and to develop the exchange of information on educational systems ! to develop co-operation in cases of acknowledgement of achieved education and study abroad, ! to support the development of new teaching methods and aids LEONARDO DA VINCI – Community Vocational Training Action Programme Second phase : 2000 – 2006 Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce the Leonardo da Vinci programme. My aim is to promote the programme very shortly and talk only about the real basic rules, so you can get a general picture how the programme works. All the information are from the offical internet site and its related sites. I think that the Leonardo da Vinci programme can become a useful tool which we can use in vocational training in our institutions. The Leonardo da Vinci Community vocational training action programme, introduced in 1994, is now entering its second phase, which will run from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2006. Promoting a Europe of knowledge is central to the implementation of the programme, which seeks to consolidate a European co-operation area for education and training. The programme actively supports the lifelong training policies conducted by the Member States. Multi-annual Community calls for proposals are planned for the periods 2000-2002, 2003-2004 and 2005-2006. The calls will set up the annual deadlines for the submission and selection of proposals and will specify particularly the priorities for these calls. Figure 1: Unemployment rate of 25- to 29-year-olds. 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 EU-15 B DK D EL E F IRL I L NL A P FIN S UK dark bars – people with basic education light bars – people with additional vocational training 365 The programme has three general objectives: 1) The first general objective is to improve the skills and competencies of people, especially young people, this may be achieved inter alia through work-linked vocational training (importance of the training: young people with additional vocational training fare better on the labour market than those who only completed obligatory schooling.) As you can see on the Figure 1, there is almost always better chance for trained people to get a job. This is becoming to be a big problem in the Czech Republic. The higher unemployment we have the higher requirements for new employees are demanded. Many of them require some practise. The Community average of the training duration is 45 hours per participant, that is a little over one week per year. Portugal and Greece, that is those where the percentage of employees trained is lowest at 13%, the duration of training is longest, with an average of 84 and 139 hours in one year per participant respectively. On the Figure 2 you can see the structure of main subjects of the vacational training. Production techniques are the most common subject of training organised by enterprises, followed by data processing and management. Languages, accounting and marketing are of importance in the wholesale sector while safety is deemed important in the mining and quarrying as well as the hotel and restaurant sector. Figure 2: Other 23% Production 24% Languages 5% Finance 5% Data Processing 13% Human Resources 5% Management 10% Marketing 7% Safety 8% 2) The second general objective is to improve the quality of, and access to, continuing vocational training 3) The third general objective is to promote and reinforce the contribution of vocational training to the process of innovation, help the co-operation between vocational training institutions, including universities and undertakings, particularly SMEs. (Small and Middle enterprises) 366 In implementing the three objectives, special attention will be given to proposals addressing: ! the development of practices to facilitate access to training for people most at a disadvantage in the labour market, including disabled people; ! equal opportunities for women and men, with a view to combating discrimination in training provision. The second phase of the Leonardo da Vinci programme makes provision for five types of projects which can qualify for Community support: ! mobility ! pilot projects, including “thematic actions” ! language competencies ! transnational networks ! reference material Mobility The basic point here is to strengthen the European dimension of initial and continuing vocational training, to encourage people to gain experience in activities involving theory and practice, particularly work-linked training, to develop language skills and to improve the training available to trainers and human resources managers. The actual implementation takes the form of three main types of action: transnational placement projects, transnational exchange projects, and study visits. Pilot project Pilot projects are intended to stimulate the process of innovation and to enhance the quality of training and vocational guidance. They must develop tangible products, using new information and communication technologies where appropriate. Language competencies These proposals are concerned with promoting language and cultural competencies in a vocational training context including projects on less widely used and taught languages. Who can participate? ! All Member States of the European Union - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom; ! Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway; ! Cyprus, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEEC): Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia; Malta and Turkey. The participation of these countries (pre-accession countries) is subject to the conclusion of agreements between each country and the European Union. 367 And who can be Potential promoter? Proposals may be submitted by private, public or semi-public organisations and institutions involved in vocational training, but private individuals may not submit proposals. (universities, research centres, chambers of commerce, etc.) When should proposals be submited? The annual deadlines for the submission of pre-proposals and full proposals are laid down in the Community calls for proposals which will be published in 2000, 2002 and 2004. Promoters may present their proposals in any year, provided they are in compliance with the deadlines set out in the appropriate calls. To be eligible, proposals must meet a number of formal conditions. I will concentrate only at the main important conditions. 1) Project has to meet all the objectives and deadlines of the programme. 2) Proposals must be submitted by a transnational partnership involving partners from at least three participating countries, one of which must be from a Member State of the European Union, with the exception of the “mobility” and “language competencies” measures. In these two cases, the partnership must comprise partners from at least two participating countries, one of which must be from a Member State of the European Union. 3) The project must be completed within the maximum duration of Community support. In the Table 1 you can see the maximum duration for every type of a project. Table 1: Measures Maximum duration ! Mobility Of the project Of each placement or exchange Placements 2 years Persons undergoing initial training 3 weeks to 9 months Students in higher education 3 to 12 months Young workers and recent graduates 2 to 12 months Exchanges 2 years 1 to 6 weeks ! Pilot projects 3 years ! Language competencies 3 years ! Transnational networks 3 years ! Reference material 3 years 4)