European conference on scholarships for students from the Western Balkans, MŠMT ČR

Minister Kopicová at the conference about scholarships for students from the Western Balkans.

"Being aware of the importance of international cooperation we have today committed ourselves to enhance the quality and reinforce the European dimension of higher education, encourage transnational cooperation by means of scholarships offered to the Western Balkan countries. Scholarship opportunities will not only increase student mobility. It is going to have an impact on the learning process within the framework of higher education as such, but it is also expected to have a positive impact on individual's life and career after graduation and on professional integration. Last but not least, in the long run, it will certainly have an impact in the form of an atmosphere of understanding, mutual trust and cooperation among the countries in Europe," said Mrs. Miroslava Kopicová, Minister of Education of the Czech Republic.

The conference organized in cooperation with the European Commission, King Baudouin Foundation and the Committee of the Regions aimed at raising awareness about the existing and forthcoming scholarship opportunities and at discussing difficulties in making full use of them. It also aimed at increasing the number of scholarships provided by individual European countries, following the increased Community support from the Erasmus Mundus programme.

King Baudouin Foundation presented a new handbook containing an overview of scholarship opportunities that exist in EU Member States and EFTA countries for Western Balkan students. The handbook is the first phase of the project to create an online tool, which will allow students from South East Europe to browse scholarship opportunities in European countries by degree level, subject and/or country, to be ready by the end of 2009.

Western Balkan Countries are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo under UNSCR 1244/1999, Montenegro, Serbia.

Jakub Dürr, the Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, at the conference in Brussels.