TEMPUS PROGRAMME

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 441.

1. Introduction

1.1 Read the text title and hypothesize what the text is about. Write down your hypothesis.

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1.2 What do you know concerning this issue? List your ideas in the table left column “I know”.

1.3 If you know answers to these questions write them down in the space given after each question.

1.4 Circle in the list the words and expressions you know. Write down their translation in the table and calculate the percentage of your lexical competence.

The international cooperation is a strategic direction to activity, which is aimed at the integration of the university as a whole and its separate subdivisions into world educational space. Such sort of activity promotes the establishment of strategic partner relations with higher educational institutions abroad as well as gives possibilities to get extra-budget financing from international funds, programmes acting in the educational sphere.

The Programme of Tempus/Tacis is one of several programmes of the European Community, directed on rendering the assistance in the process of social and economic reforms in partner-countries. It gives the grants for creation of new or the transformation of already existing scholastic courses, restructuring of educational institutions, promotion of joint activity for the organizations (academic and non-academic) on a specific discipline. Tempus is the European Union's programme, which supports the modernization of higher education in the Partner Countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean region, mainly through university cooperation projects.

Tempus (the Trans European cooperation scheme for higher education) adopted by the Council of Ministers of the European Union on 7 May 1990, is the European Union's major instrument for the development and restructuring of higher education in Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States and Mongolia. It has given support to high quality projects aiming to restructure and develop curricula and teaching materials, upgrade teaching facilities, and/or improve university administration in higher education institutions in the partner countries.

Between 1990 and 1998 the EU has invested nearly 800 million euro in restructuring higher education in the Phare and Tacis partner countries by supporting more than 14,950 projects through Tempus. It is administered by the European Commission. Since January 1995, technical assistance for the Programme has been provided by the European Training Foundation in Turin. In 1999 a total of 53 countries were eligible for cooperation in Tempus projects. The two main objectives of Tempus are:

· to promote the quality and support the development and renewal of higher education in the Phare and Tacis partner countries.

· to encourage their growing interaction and as balanced a cooperation as possible with partners in the European Union, through joint activities and relevant mobility.

Launched by the EC in 1991, the Tacis Programmeprovides grant-financed technical assistance to 13 countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan), and mainly aims at enhancing the transition process in these countries. Politicians and officials from the partner countries and the EU meet now on a regular basis. Tacis becomes a more strategic instrument in the co-operation process between EU and partner countries.

Erasmus Mundus (2009-2013) is an education programme of the European Union; it is aimed at increasing attractiveness of European higher education, fostering international cooperation, accelerating mobility for university students, teachers and scholars in the EU and worldwide. The Programme is called after Erasmus of Rotterdam, Renaissance

scholar and philosopher, who travelled a lot and taught at different universities that enabled him to realize five hundred years ago the advantages of mobility and international cooperation in education and learning.

Joint Projects: partnerships between higher education institutions in the EU and partner countries. They can develop, modernize and disseminate new curricula, teaching methods or materials.

Structural Measures: to develop and reform higher education institutions and systems in partner countries; to enhance their quality and relevance, and to increase convergence with EU developments.

Launch of Tempus IV. The latest phase of the programme, Tempus IV, started in 2008 with an annual budget of around 50 million euro. Individual projects receive funding of between 0.5 and 1.5 million euro.

Participating countries in the Tempus scholarship programme. The Tempus scholarship programme enables universities in a number of countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean region to establish partnerships in the European Union that help them restructure their higher education systems. The programme allows universities to offer scholarships for student exchanges only within those partnerships. Tempus IV is open to higher education institutions and to other organizations active in the field of higher education provided they are established in: the EU member states, the Partner Countries.

Eligible Participants. The programme is open to:

· higher education institutions that wish to implement Joint Projects;

· any organization who will contribute actively to the objectives of the projects: associations; organizations of higher education institutions; national or international rector, teacher or student organizations; non-governmental organizations; chambers of commerce; labour associations or other public or private professional organizations; private or public enterprises; research institutions;

· individuals cannot apply directly to the Programme;

· public administrations: Ministries, other national, regional and local administrations or governmental organizations.

Eligible Countries.Tempus IV is open to higher education institutions and to other organizations active in the field of higher education in the EU Member States or in the Partner Countries. In addition, institutions from specific countries which are not EU Member States or typical Tempus Partner Countries (countries from the Western Balkans, the Southern and Eastern neighbouring areas of the EU, the Russian Federation and Central Asian countries), may participate in Tempus projects as partners, but only if they finance their participation themselves.

Funding for Individual Students, University and Other Staff.Individuals cannot apply themselves for Programme funding. Only universities and other bodies can apply for a Tempus Grant. Individuals such as students, academic staff and university administrators can participate in the framework of a project on limited and short term mobility, but only if it achieves the project's objectives.

Glossary