site.btaErasmus+ Programme Focuses on Adult Vocational Education, Training - Minister

Erasmus+ Programme Focuses on Adult Vocational Education, Training - Minister

Sofia, October 24 (BTA) - Vocational and adult education are a new focus in the EU Erasmus+ programme for 2017, Deputy Prime Minister and Education and Science Minister Meglena Kuneva told a news conference Monday. Next year Erasmus+ will have its budget increased by 14 per cent, which stands at 27.4 million euro this year.

Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. Its budget of 14.7 billion euro will provide opportunities for over 4 million Europeans to study, train gain experience, and volunteer abroad. Education, training, youth and sport can make a major contribution to help tackle socio-economic changes, the key challenges that Europe will be facing by this decade's end, and to support the implementation of the European policy agenda for growth, jobs, equity and social inclusion.

A survey of the European Commission shows that 92 per cent of employers look for personal features to whose development Erasmus contributes, including tolerance, confidence problem-solving skills, the desire to learn, awareness of own strengths and weaknesses and determination in employment decision-making, Kuneva said. Erasmus+ is not only a better prospect for students' careers, it also expands their horizon and their social contacts, she added.