Brexit: Students in NI can continue in Erasmus scheme
- Published
Students at NI universities can continue to participate in the Erasmus scheme under an arrangement with the Irish government.
Erasmus is an EU programme that helps students study in other countries.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that the UK will not continue to participate in it and will be replacing it with a new scheme.
The Republic of Ireland's higher education minister said his government was fulfilling a commitment to NI.
"I'm really delighted we now have government approval to make sure students in Northern Ireland can continue to avail of Erasmus after the UK leaves the EU," Simion Harris said.
The details of how the scheme will work and which students will qualify is not yet clear.
Simon Harris said his government was fulfilling a commitment to people in Northern Ireland
In 2017, 16,561 UK students participated in Erasmus, while 31,727 EU nationals went to the UK., external
Erasmus is also involved in vocational training and work overseas, as well as with teachers who want to work or train abroad.
A report from the House of Lords EU Committee warned the benefits of the Erasmus programme would be very difficult to replicate with a national programme as the government is planning.
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It added that vocational education and training would stop, and that leaving Erasmus would "disproportionately affect people from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with medical needs or disabilities".
UK universities are still eligible to participate in Erasmus programmes - for now.
And as long as funding is awarded before the end of 2020, students and staff will be able to go ahead with their exchanges even if they take place after the end of the transition period.
Mr Johnson announced that the UK will be replacing Erasmus with a new scheme named after the mathematician Alan Turing.
He said leaving Erasmus had been a "tough decision" but that under the new scheme, students would "have the opportunity... not just to go to European universities, but to go to the best universities in the world".
The EU's Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said he regretted the decision.
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