§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the development of educational and youth international exchanges. [97484]
§ Mr. WicksThe UK fully participates in European Union education programmes including SOCRATES and LEONARDO which enable exchange opportunities for teachers, lecturers, pupils, students and young people in vocational training. Both programmes have recently been renegotiated and expanded.
The European Commission has recently published proposals for a new youth programme to develop the exchange programmes currently funded under Youth for Europe and the European Voluntary Service for Young People.
The Government fund the Central Bureau for International Education and Training and the League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers to organise educational exchanges. Both organisations are modernising their programmes in the light of the Green Paper, "Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change", which proposed a major new programme of international development opportunities for teachers. Pilots of the new programme are currently operating. We intend to announce plans for the new programmes next year.