§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on(a) participation in, (b) the costs to United Kingdom and European funds and (c) the educational benefits of the first Socrates programme; and what his plans are for the second Socrates programme. [116017]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 23 March 2000]: The first phase of the EU Education action programme Socrates ran from 1995 to 1999. During that period some 920 million euros were available for activities across the European Union, many of which will continue until the end of this academic year.
Participation
In the UK, during academic year 1997–98, the latest year for which figures are available, the following were funded:
1,108 school partnership projects; 323 school preparatory visits; 161 teacher training projects; 655 teachers took part in language training abroad; 80 UK teacher trainees took up language assistant posts in other European countries; 166 Higher education institutions took part; 10,592 students studied in another country; 10 Adult Education projects and nine Open and Distance Learning projects were funded; and 159 policy study visits were made to another country.In the EU, throughout the period of the first phase, the European Commission estimates that nearly half a million students received grants for an integrated period of study in another European country under the Erasmus action; over 50,000 teachers in higher education undertook teaching assignments at higher education institutions in another European country; over 10,000 schools were involved in joint projects (a great many of them involving UK schools); and around 150,000 young people were involved in joint activities.
290W
Numbers of full and part-time pupils aged three1 in maintained schools2 in Hampshire local education authority area and in England: 1979, 1990 and 1992–99 (position as at January each year) England Hampshire3 Portsmouth3 Southampton3 Hampshire4 Part-time Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time Full-time 1999 267,928 34,288 999 4 706 1 546 0 5— 5— 1998 270,286 33,003 969 13 726 0 501 2 5— 5— 1997 262,110 29,815 5— 5— 5— 5— 5— 5— 2,218 10 1996 261,654 28,818 5— 5— 5— 5— 5— 5— 2,082 10 1995 253,537 27,818 5— 5— 5— 5— 5— 5— 1,922 20 1994 242,187 27,263 5— 5— 5— 5— 5— 5— 1,916 28 Costs
The average annual cost to the UK is 28 million euros. Incoming grants total 25 million euros.
Educational benefits
All participants have built and strengthened links with colleagues in other participating countries. Many institutions have gained access to, and developed, innovative training materials and methods. Individual participants have gained an appreciation of each others' cultures and working practices, have developed communication, new technology and other core skills and have improved their employability and confidence levels.
Plans for the new programme
The total budget for the second phase of the programme is 1.85 million euros for the seven years from 2000 to 2006. Priorities and budget allocations for the new programme for the year 2000 are currently under discussion in the Socrates programme management committee. During the course of these discussions the UK will use its best endeavours to ensure that the priorities set for the programme are compatible with the UK's domestic policy agenda for each of the education sectors the programme serves.