Zorg ervoor dat studenten hun blik verruimen en de grens overgaan. Dat zegt de Europese Commissie tegen de lidstaten van de EU. Op een mobility scoreboard wil zij de voortgang bijhouden.
Het zou niet uitzonderlijk, maar doodgewoon moeten zijn dat studenten een tijdje in het buitenland studeren, schrijft de Europese Commissie bij haar voorstel. Zij wil graag dat Europese burgers zich vrij voelen voor hun werk of opleiding door heel Europa te reizen. Ondanks allerlei studiebeurzen en intentieverklaringen is dat nog lang niet zo.
Stappen
Er zijn wel een paar belangrijke stappen gezet. Vrijwel overal is het bachelor-masterprogramma ingevoerd en de meeste Europese universiteiten en hogescholen werken met het studiepuntensysteem ECTS, zodat onderwijsprogramma’s beter vergelijkbaar zijn geworden.
Struikelblokken
Toch blijven er genoeg struikelblokken over, zoals informatievoorziening, talenkennis en geldgebrek. Daar moeten de landen iets aan doen, vindt de Europese Commissie. Elke twee jaar wil zij een scorebord openbaar maken met de voortgang op zulke punten.
Talenonderwijs
Waarschijnlijk zal Nederland bij aanvang vrij goed scoren. Het talenonderwijs is hier niet slecht en studenten mogen hun studiebeurs meenemen naar het buitenland, wat twee belangrijke problemen wegneemt. Ook bevordert Nederland transnationale onderwijsprogramma’s, die sinds kort een ‘joint degree’ mogen uitreiken.
Honkvaster
Steeds meer Nederlandse hbo’ers volgen een deel van hun opleiding in het buitenland: tegenwoordig doet 21,5 procent dit. Academici worden juist honkvaster: slechts 26,6 procent studeerde een poosje in het buitenland, terwijl zeven jaar geleden 36 procent van hen dit deed.
Just a short train ride from Delft, Rotterdam is where many TU Delft international students head for shopping and nightlife, and increasingly to live. This year the city has even more to offer young people than ever before, as Rotterdam serves as the first-ever European Youth Capital. The city is bursting with special events, from festivals and sports to activities focusing on health, education and professional networking.
The idea to make Rotterdam the first European Youth Capital stems from the fact that it’s a very young city, with nearly a third of the city’s residents under the age of 27, making Rotterdam’s population the youngest of all municipalities in the Netherlands.
Rotterdam allocated 60 million euro for this project, whose theme is: ‘Your World’. The project’s chairman, Steven van Eijck, a former Dutch government deputy-minister of finance and a Rotterdam resident, was responsible for coordinating the 2009 European Youth Capital activities: “For Rotterdam and the Netherlands, 2009 is a mega-experiment that turns the usual way of doing things on its head: it’s young people – not adults – who are responsible for organising the programme. That Rotterdam is such a young city in terms of population age, with 174 different nationalities residing within the city limits, doesn’t result in problems, but rather in opportunities.”
The project aims to discover what young people think their city should be like. What kind of activities, opportunities and assistance do they require? Taking care of the youth seems like the safest way of taking care of the future, and this essentially is what the project is about: young people contributing to society by taking the initiative, promoting their creativity and skills, and evolving and upgrading their living environment.
The 2009 European Youth Capital agenda is organized around six main themes. Arts, Cultures & Lifestyle, for showcasing local talents. Sports, including events like the Neighborhood Football Championship and European Judo Championship. Education & Apprenticeships, to help young people find educational courses and traineeships. Jobs & Entrepreneurship, supporting entrepreneurial start-ups. Housing & Living Environment, to create suitable environments for recreational and social activities. And Identity & Meeting of Minds, for encouraging intercommunication among young people of various backgrounds, with this theme’s top event being the ‘Night of the Churches’, when different religions come together for one night.
Rotterdam’s European Youth Capital events run until the end of 2009. Some must-see, upcoming events include ‘MoveMasterz’, a challenging dance contest open to all kinds of dancers – solo or group, jazz or break-dance – that began in neighborhoods around the country and will end with the best dancers qualifying for national finals in Rotterdam.
Various arts and culture workshops will be held in November and December, including ‘Cross Over Music’, a musical instrument workshops for beginners. But perhaps the most sparkling upcoming event is on New Year’s Eve, when Rotterdam hands over its title as European Youth Capital to the next host city – Turin, Italy. The closing festivities will run all day, culminating with the final countdown in Rotterdam center at midnight.
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