Is Turkey being dropped out of the Erasmus program?
- Written by Portal Editor
Exchange of pupils and students on an international level is a valuable tool when it comes to teaching social skills, aspects of international understanding and cultural exchange.
Even better if this exchange is actively supported by politicians through effective funding programs such as the Erasmus program. From our own experience of supporting exchange groups (Boeselager Realschule Ahrweiler, Camlaralti College Izmir, etc.), we know exactly how helpful these support programs actually are. It is therefore particularly reprehensible when programs of this type are misused by politicians or their representatives for their own purposes and to fulfill their own interests. You could also put it this way: cheating on one's own pupils and students.
This is exactly what seems to have happened in Turkey, as the EU is investigating Turkey's "National Agency for the Erasmus Program". The spokesman for the responsible EU Commission, Dennis Abbott, is quoted in the press as saying: The EU must investigate "irregularities" in Turkey caused by "a lack of transparency in the hiring of personnel and violations of EU rules for procurement agreements". had arisen!
In 2013 alone, the Turkish national agency received 116 million euros in EU funding for the EU education programs Lifelong Learning and Youth in Action. The Erasmus program, which is part of the Lifelong Learning program, accounts for around 40 percent of the money, Abbott continued.
The Erasmus program offers university students the opportunity to spend three to twelve months in another European country and continue their studies there or do an internship in a company or organisation. This option is open to all students enrolled at a university in one of the 33 participating countries (EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey).
The money paid out did not reach the students
At the beginning of March, the European Commission began investigating Turkey's "National Agency for the Erasmus Program" in Ankara, which could end in a halt to the Erasmus program.
The Turkish media had already pointed out that EU funding had not achieved its goal of providing financial support to students. There is reasonable suspicion that the former Turkish Minister for EU Affairs, Egemen Bağış, has diverted Erasmus funds for other purposes. The minister had already lost his post as a result of the corruption scandal that became known in December.
Once again those students would be affected, whom the Erasmus program wanted to help, because their mobility is thereby in question. In 2012, around 12,000 students were able to go abroad as part of the exchange concept as part of the Erasmus program. Should the program end with Turkey, this will also apply to European students who have gone to Turkey.
It will be interesting to see the results of the investigations. As a sanction against the misappropriation of the funds, at least part of the funding for educational programs, especially the personnel costs, could be demanded back from Turkey. The suspension of the Erasmus program with Turkey for 2014 could also be a consequence of the fraud, but this would only be at the expense of the students.
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