Community action programme 'Socrates'

This decision by the European Parliament and the Council (819/95/EC) sets up the "SOCRATES" programme for the period from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 1999, the aim of which is to develop quality education and training and an open European area of cooperation on education. It supports and complements action by the Member States in this area, while fully respecting their responsibility for the curricula and organisation of their education system and their cultural and linguistic diversity. Objectives and actions: SOCRATES has three major objectives: - to promote cooperation in higher education (ERASMUS programme), comprising two actions: . action 1: to promote the European dimension in universities, . action 2: to encourage student mobility by funding student mobility grants; - to promote cooperation in school education (COMENIUS programme): this is the main innovation of SOCRATES and it makes provision for: . action 1: to set up new partnerships between schools in different Member States on European education projects (nurseries, primary and secondary schools), especially in the area of languages, use of technologies etc., . action 2: to educate children of migrant workers, persons exercising itinerant professions, travellers and gypsies and to promote intercultural education, . action 3: to update and improve teachers' skills; - to implement horizontal actions in the following areas: . action 1: LINGUA: to promote linguistic skills in the Community, . action 2: to promote open and distance learning, . action 3: to promote exchanges of information and experience, mainly by extending the EURYDICE network (information on education in the Community programme) or NARIC and by study visits by key players in education (ARION). Complementary measures are also planned, one of the main measures being cooperation with the Council of Europe in organizing the "Europe at School" competition. Funding: with a budget of ECU 850 million over 5 years (divided into annual grants on the basis of current financial perspectives), the programme suggests an allocation of: 55% for the ERASMUS programme, 10% for COMENIUS and 25% for other measures (including linguistic measures). Management of the programme: the Commission will be assisted in implementing this programme by a committee which will act as a management or advisory committee, depending on the subject matter. The committee will be assisted by two sub-committees: one in the area of higher education and the other in the area of school education. Project selection methods vary, depending on whether measures are centralised or decentralised. Cooperation: the programme is to be implemented in tandem with other Community initiatives or programmes (LEONARDO, research programmes) and in cooperation with the associated countries of eastern Europe, Cyprus and Malta.�