The National Agency for European Educational Programmes and Mobility is hosting Wednesday a conference entitled “How to talk to the young generations.”
The Agency’s acting director Marko Gjorgievski who delivered introductory remarks at the conference said that new Erasmus+ Programme is greatly anticipated.
“We have received generally positive information late Tuesday and all higher education institutions will receive notification from both the European Commission and us as a National Agency. I welcome the political agreement reached by the EU for the new Erasmus+ Programme (2021-2027), which amounts to EUR 28 billion, which will be beneficial for us,” he said.
Gjorgievski said that out of a total of 26 higher education institutions in our country, 24 actively participate in Erasmus+ Programme in the field of higher education.
The funding for higher education from 2014 to 2019 have increased by 150%. In 2014, the budget amounted EUR 970,000 and in 2020 it will amount to EUR 2.4 million, which is a huge increase, Gjorgievski added.
Incoming students and staff to North Macedonia, as he added, are greater than outgoing students and staff from the country, which means that our universities show that they have the capacity and teaching staff to attract foreign students to come.
He said that that 43% of the total budget of the Erasmus+ Programme will be earmarked for higher education, adding that they expect double increase in budget during the new 2021-2027 programme.
Gjorgievski noted that in the coming period the emphasis of the programme will be on digitalization, green agenda, cooperation with countries, functioning of the European student card, inclusion of people with disabilities…
“As a national agency, we will be guided by the priorities of the programme, and we expect full involvement of higher education institutions in order to successfully implement the set goals for the period 2021-2027,” Gjorgievski said.
Moreover, the official signing of grant agreements with higher education institutions as part of Erasmus+ Programme took place within the event. Also, improvement of the capacities and challenges of the new Erasmus+ strategy 2021-2027 was presented.
