§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assistance is available to schools wishing to establish links with other schools in the(a) European Union and (b) Commonwealth. [20867]
§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 5 December 2001]: The Department for Education and Skills provides assistance for schools to establish links with schools in the EU, Commonwealth and worldwide through its funding of organisations such as the British Council. Programmes include practical help with finding a school as well as a range of assistance to help with the cost of visiting the partner school.
Increasingly, school links are being made by utilising information and communication technology. For instance, schools seeking partner schools anywhere in the world can consult the Windows on the World website on the
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Arm Liability1 Strength Deficit Percentage Officers Royal Armoured, Corps/Household, Cavalry Regiment 861 823 -38 -4.4 Royal Artillery 1,062 1,028 -34 -3.2 Royal Engineers 1,139 1,112 -27 -2.4 Infantry 2,766 2,795 +29 +1.0 Army Air Corps2 459 411 -48 -10.5 Soldiers Royal Armoured, Corps/Household, Cavalry Regiment 5,011 4,916 -95 -1.9 Royal Artillery 7,439 6,923 -516 -6.9 Royal Engineers 7,662 7,401 -261 -3.4 Infantry 23,971 22,561 -1,410 -5.9 Army Air Corps2 1,309 1,324 + 15 +1.1 1 Liability figures quoted are In-Year. 2 Pilot shortfalls in the AAC are made up by attachees from other Arms and Services. At any one time there are approximately 100 attachees, which are not reflected in the table. internet at http://www.wotw.org.uk or the Montage Plus website at http://www.montageplus.co.uk which supports joint curriculum projects between schools in this country and abroad.
EU funding is also available through the Socrates Programme, the European Action Programme in the field of education that focuses specifically on schools in the EU through the Comenius action. The programme is open to the member states of the EU as well as all the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe, Cyprus and Malta. Contact seminars for schools wishing to find partners are held regularly across Europe. The British Council publicises the action, and holds UK regional briefing meetings on the Socrates Programme to advertise the opportunities. The Partbase database (partbase.eupro.se) provides schools with an on-line search facility for finding Comenius partners.