Brussels, 07/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has approved €100 million to support over 50 new European Projects and Networks designed to improve quality and strengthen cooperation in the field of school education. In all, nearly 500 organisations across the 31 countries now participating in Socrates will implement the new initiatives. COMENIUS is the part of the 'Socrates' European education action programme that targets schools. Through its support for school partnerships, teacher training, and school education networks, it will reach more than three-quarters of a million pupils and over 100,000 teachers this year, involving over 11,000 schools across Europe.
€2 million has also been awarded to six new 3-year Comenius Networks that will be concerned with such varying but essential themes as how to involve parents more effectively in school education; improving career guidance in schools, promoting active citizenship, furthering intercultural education and improving the educational use of computers in the classroom and the training of teachers. The average Comenius network includes 27 formal partners and many associated members. Each network will receive a grant averaging € 370,000.
The core of the Comenius programme, accounting for three-quarters of its budget, is the creation of partnerships between local schools across the 31 countries involved. These are managed on the Commission's behalf by a Europe-wide network of National Agencies. The 2005 budget of around €74 million for Comenius grants is expected to support over 11,000 schools for their activities with partners elsewhere in Europe. An estimated 100,000 teachers and 750,000 pupils will be involved in these partnerships in some way or other. In addition, €19 million is available for individual grants this year to enable some 7,000 teachers and other school staff to undertake in-service training in another European country, and around 1,100 language assistants to work in host schools abroad.