Minister of Education inaugurates Erasmus Network Meeting

Minister of Education inaugurates Erasmus Network Meeting

The Minister of Education and National Culture, the Hon. Evarist Bartolo, this morning officially opened the 1998 E.U. ERASMUS Network Meeting in Radiography, at the University of Malta.

This was convened to discuss student and staff exchanges in this area of Health Care. The group has E.U. representatives from the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Norway, Ireland, Finland, Portugal, N. Ireland and the U.K. A group of exchange students from these countries were in Malta earlier this year.

This was possible after the University of Malta adopted the European Credit Transfer System for student exchanges. ERASMUS activities this year have covered a number of areas in which students from Malta spent short-intensive periods of research / training in European Countries.

Maltese students travelled to Norway, Germany, Spain, U.K., Sweden, Ireland and France. Students from Malta also spent a year attachment at the Socrates Technical Assistance Office in Brussels. Staff exchanges included broad fields of learning including Education, Architecture, Neuro Science, Environmental Science and Health Care. Malta currently participates in ten different Socrates networks and has made preparatory work which will next year lead to Malta’s planned participation in COMENIUS activities for school exchanges.

The Minister pledged his Government’s full support of these activities and reiterated the guarantee that the future Labour Government will support students who would like to participate in Socrates activities for both short and longer research / training with a full students stipend. A full programme of SOCRATES activities are planned and will start in mid-September.

Dr. Timo Timmerman, Chairperson of the E.U. ERASMUS Network thanked the Minister for his Government’s support of the E.U. initiatives.

Also present at the Network meeting were the Socrates Office Manager of the University of Malta, Dr. Joe Mifsud, Mr. Paul Bezzina Malta’s representative on the ERASMUS Radiography Network and Prof. J. Rizzo Naudi, Chancellor of the University of Malta.

02.09.98