Proposal for SOCRATES education and training action programme
A Commission proposal of 3.2.1994 concerns the establishment of a Community action programme, SOCRATES, for the period 1 January 1995 to 31 December 1991. The programme is intended to contribute to the development of quality education and training and of an open European area for education. The programme will simplify and rationalize Community actions in the field of education and training, reinforcing those aspects which are most promising as regards added value and European impetus. It will also encourage transnational projects linking partners from different Member States who are involved in the transfer of innovation through exchanges. Its specific objectives are: - To develop the European dimension in studies at all levels; - To promote knowledge of the languages of the European Union; - To increase mobility for the EU's students; - To promote broad and intensive cooperation between institutions at all levels of education in every Member State; - To encourage the academic recognition of diplomas and periods of study; - To develop the use of communication and information technologies as a tool and subject of education, to promote intellectual mobility of know how and experience; - To foster exchanges of information and experience. SOCRATES shall cover three areas of Community action: - Higher education: Three ERASMUS-type actions (drawing on the experience of the ERASMUS and LINGUA programmes) aimed at promoting the European dimension in higher education, setting up European university networks, funding student mobility grants. - School education: Three actions intended to encourage cooperation between nursery, primary and secondary schools and the establishment of networks, to encourage the schooling of migrant workers and gypsies, and to encourage the updating of skills of educational staff in charge of teaching, guidance and/or psycho-pedagogical care of school children and their families. - Horizontal activities in the areas of language learning, of open and distance education and learning, and information. Actions in this area aim to promote language skills in the EU, open and distance education and learning, and the broader spread of information and the exchange of experiences in the field of education. The programme shall support the policies adopted and implemented by Member States under their internal structures, having regard to the characteristics and scope of their educational systems. The Member States shall entrust the implementation of the actions described above to the various competent authorities responsible at national level. In partnership with the Member States, the Commission shall foster an element of complementarity between the operation of the programme and the interventions of the Structural Funds. The Commission shall also encourage the coordination of activities between SOCRATES and the Fourth Framework Programme for research and technological development.