MINSK, 8 February (BelTA) – The European Union invites Belarus to develop cooperation in education, representative of the European Commission’s Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (Brussels) Giulia Moro said during a roundtable, Education Policy of the EU and Belarus: Sharing Experience, on 6 February. Belarus has been offered four partnership programmes: Tempus, Erasmus Mundus, Jean Monnet, Youth in Action. “These are the opportunities the EU offers Belarus within the Eastern Partnership initiative,” Giulia Moro said. Tempus is the EU’s programme which supports promotion of social and economic reforms, modernization of higher education in the EU partner countries. The programme was launched in 1990. The 2007-2013 programme is currently running its fourth stage. Partaking in the programme can be Belarusian universities, NGOs, student associations, rector boards who apply before 9 March 2010. Grants vary from ?500,000 to ?1.5 million. Erasmus Mundus (2009-2013) is a cooperation and mobility programme in the field of higher education that aims to enhance the quality of European higher education and to promote dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with third countries. In addition, it contributes to the development of human resources and the international cooperation capacity of higher education institutions in third countries by increasing mobility between the European Union and these countries. The Jean Monnet programme stimulates teaching, research and reflection on European integration at higher education institutions throughout the world. The Youth in Action programme is set up for young people aged 13-26. It aims to inspire a sense of active citizenship, solidarity and tolerance among young people and to involve them in shaping the future. The roundtable, Education Policy of the EU and Belarus: Sharing Experience, was organized by the Office for Democratic Belarus (Belgium) in partnership with the Belarusian Institute of Strategic Research (Lithuania) and under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and the EU Representative Office in Belarus. The goal of the roundtable was to exchange the information and experience in the education area between the EU and Belarus and discuss further possible areas of cooperation.

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