MANILA – Thirty-nine Filipino students will pursue their academic dreams in several countries of the European Union after they won scholarships under the EU’s Erasmus + Programme.
In 2015, the Philippines will have the highest number of Erasmus students benefiting from an EU scholarship amongst all ASEAN countries (credit mobility and Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees).
The Erasmus + Programme will allow these Filipino youth leaders to pursue MA and Ph D programmes in different universities across the European continent.
The scholarship and mobility programme is structured to allow students to pursue their studies in more than one country giving them the opportunity to benefit from the academic expertise and culture of more than one university.
This programme gives life changing opportunities for Filipino students to experience living the European culture, learning European languages and being integrated into the European society for one to two years.
The Erasmus + (formerly called the Erasmus Mundus Programme) promotes the EU as a centre of excellence in learning and making student mobility a reality for EU and non-EU citizens alike.
Erasmus + is the European Union’s new Programme for 2014 to 2020 to support projects, partnerships, events and mobility in the areas of education, training, youth and sport. It provides funding opportunities for cooperation in all these areas, both among European countries, and between these European countries and Partner Countries throughout the world.
European Union Ambassador to the Philippines commended the outgoing Erasmus + students in a reception held on 11 August at the EU Delegation to the Philippines for their impressive results reflecting the hard work of Filipino students.
Erasmus Mundus alumni led by Ms Sheila Balbutin who is President of the Erasmus Mundus Association, Southeast Asia Chapter also attended to share their experiences of studying in Europe and encouraged the scholars to take advantage of their time in the EU to benefit from borderless travelling and studying across different European Union member states.
Ambassador Ledoux said that since 2004 more than 200 students and lecturers benefitted from the programme. The scholarship covers air travel to Europe, tuition fees and a monthly living allowance of Php 138,000.
In addition, more than 30 Filipinos benefit from EU MS countries scholarship every year.
The Erasmus + is among the leading international academic mobility programmes in the world, and students from the Philippines have benefitted considerably from the programme. (Eagle News Service/European Union Delegation to the Philippines)
