The #RecogniseStudyAbroad campaign was launched yesterday during the European Policy Networks Conference in Brussels. The campaign is an initative of the EEE-YFU (European Educational Exchanges, Youth for Understanding) and EFIL (European Federation for Intercultural Learning) and supported by EPA, KeyCoNet, OBESSU and EuroClio. The goal is to raise awareness among policy-makers and educational stakeholders about the lack of recognition of long-term pupil exchanges. Among students and parents the fear of ‘losing a year’ and falling behind. Unfortunately many teachers and heads of schools discourage students’ participation in study abroad programmes as well, because they think it will have a negative impact on their school careers. As a consequence only high achieving students are allowed or able to go abroad for a longer period.
More specifically the goals of this campaign are:
- Providing equal access to diverse learning opportunities. Often the only pupils that are given the opportunity to study abroad are the ones that are already performing well at school. This lack of equal access to learning opportunities is a concern for social inclusion in education.
- Making the European job market a reality, also for families. Parents often have to reconsider professional opportunities in other countries, since their career abroad may have a negative impact on the school path of their children.
- Supporting schools in the process of internationalisation. With student’s mobility being promoted in political discourse but study periods abroad not being officially recognised by national law, schools are not supported enough by policy in their internationalisation.
- Improving the implementation of key competences in school education. The recognition of the school year abroad implies a shift from “traditional” content-based curricula to a competence-based approach, which recognises “real-world learning”.
Support us by using the hashtag #RecogniseStudyAbroad or visit our (soon to be online) website!
