Student Communiqué

ESIB's 5th European student convention

Introduction

ESIB – the National Unions of Students in Europe is the umbrella organization for 50
National Unions of Students from 37 European countries and through these members
represents over 11 million students. ESIB represents the educational, economic,
cultural, social and political views of students to the European institutions such as
the European Union and the Council of Europe.

ESIB has been tackling the issues surrounding student mobility for many years and
this has included political representations surrounding the creation of the Erasmus
programme 15 years ago and the subsequent adaptation and evolution to this at
both a national and European level. More recently ESIB has been involved in running
projects to promote student mobility such as SOCRATES on the Move and the events
surrounding the celebration of 1 millionth Erasmus student in October 2002. The
celebrations surrounding the millionth Erasmus student should be seen as
springboard to achieving genuine mobility and the number studying on the Erasmus
programme should increase exponentially over the coming years.

When discussing student mobility it is important to answer the question of why
student should study abroad. Besides academic, there are other benefits for the
individual including the learning of a different language and experiencing another
culture. However this can also have a more general benefit and creating greater
cultural understanding across Europe, particularly as student mobility becomes more
common. The student studying will also experience the different academic learning
environment and culture of another country and this will help the sharing of best
practice and ideas across the continent.

Access to mobility – eliminating barriers to create mobility for all

Access to mobility is limited and hindered by a number of restricting factors, which
need to be progressively removed to achieve a higher participation rate in mobility.
The most important barrier to mobility is connected to socio-economic factors.

Differences in socio-economic backgrounds for example negatively affect mobility in
case portable state grant (or loan) systems are not existing. Therefore it is necessary
to develop and improve these systems to create financially equal starting points.

Taking into account the extreme differences in the macroeconomic situations in
different countries in Europe it is furthermore necessary to develop mechanisms at
the European level to counterbalance these inequalities such as a European fund
providing additional financial assistance to students based on the level of the
national grant (loan), the average cost of living in the country (region) of studies and
the Gross Domestic Product of the country of origin of the student.

Additionally, political problems need to be overcome. It is necessary to adopt
national regulations which make it easier for students to obtain visa and residence
permits for going abroad. This is specifically relevant for the EU member states,
where existing legislation is often hindering mobility from non EU and EEA countries.

A special aspect of access is the provision of cost free language courses in the
language of the country of studies, which will also help integration into the
community in this country. It is also necessary to introduce study courses in widely
spoken languages to increase the mobility.

With regards to the problem of tuition fees, ESIB reaffirms its opposition to any
tuition fees. Nevertheless, where tuition fees are not yet abolished, foreign students
need to be supplied with grants (loans) to pay these, generally , ESIB is also stresses
that foreign students must not be charged higher students fees than domestic
students.

Programme mobility such as Socrates has overcome some of the barriers. However,
these efforts have to be further increased to promote more access to mobility. Also it
is necessary to eliminate these barriers for the so called free movers, who study
abroad without an arranged programme.

Additionally, a lack of information about the education system, academic questions,
social issues and possibilities for mobility can hinder access to mobility.
There is a need for more mobility programmes for South East and Eastern Europe,
which allow a greater access to mobility from these countries.
It is also necessary to address students with disabilities, children and other special
requirements to increase their access to mobility.

Integrating mobile students

Once students have gone abroad, it is necessary to solve a number of integration
problems. Foreign students have to be fully integrated into the academic and social
community of the country and city of studies.

It is also necessary to devise counselling services and tutoring programmes,
including multilingual student handbooks available on the internet, also for students
which help them to find their way through the bureaucracy of university and public
administration. Such services and programmes can also help the social integration of
foreign students into the institutional and local community. Student Unions play an
important role in designing and carrying out such programmes together with the
university administration and should be seen as points of reference for foreign
students. Nevertheless programmes and tutoring supporting the integration of
mobile students are as other services the task of the state. These services have to
be financed by the state. They should also devise structures of representation for
foreign students to include them in the structures of student self governance.

Foreign student have to have the same rights to political representation as domestic.
Psychological counselling is further necessary to help students in case of problems
during the study period.

It is furthermore necessary to guarantee housing form mobile students, by reserving
places in student dormitories as well as assisting them to find accommodation on the
private market. Every effort has to be made in the receiving country and by the
students that the accommodation in the host city is secured before the start of the
study period.

ESIB thinks that is necessary that health which is internationally portable be
designed for student so that their physical and mental health can be protected. In
cases, where such insurance policies do not exist yet in the countries of origin, the
receiving countries should include foreign students in the public health care systems.

It is further necessary to change employment legislation to make it easier to foreign
students to obtain the same employment rights as domestic students in the receiving
country. This is especially relevant for students from non EU countries from Europe
and beyond. Working next to studies must nevertheless be a free choice of students
and not a necessity to cover living costs.

Since xenophobia and racism continue to be problems the fight against these trends
in the HEIs as well as society is necessary to create a welcoming and save
atmosphere for foreign students.

Lastly, continuing language courses have to be offered free of charge throughout the
all study period, to make it easier to foreign students to Reach social integration and
understanding of the culture of the country they study in.

Vertical and Horizontal Mobility

Whereas vertical mobility means that students take a full degree abroad, horizontal
mobility refers to spending a period of studies in another country. The main issues
related to both forms of mobility are questions of recognition. However, whereas
recognition issues in horizontal mobility mainly need to be addressed by
implementing credit transfer systems and its tools properly, these issues in vertical
mobility mainly refer to recognition of qualifications, which need to be resolved by a
proper implementation of the Lisbon Recognition Convention and the Diploma
Supplement. Governments and HEIs need to implement these tools to enhance both
forms of mobility.

ESIB stresses that the impact of introducing two cycle degree structures on vertical
and horizontal mobility needs to be closely monitored and assessed. For horizontal
mobility it is necessary to guarantee enough flexibility in these structures, to keep
and enhance the possibilities of mobility periods. Additionally, more flexibility is
needed in certain subject areas and their structures to foster horizontal mobility. For
vertical mobility, two cycle degrees will possibly have a positive effect. ESIB believes
that the increased promotion of both forms of mobility is a necessary element in
creating the European Higher Education Area and thus calls upon Governments and
HEIs to remove existing obstacles.
Further work is necessary by all actors including students.

E-Learning

E-Learning has some benefits in the context of higher education, however Virtual
Mobility does not exist. As it is the education rather than the student which is
moving. Transborder Virtual Education can enable those who are unable to study
abroad to access a greater diversity of knowledge and professors across the globe. It
can also enable greater access to education systems for people in remote areas
through distance learning and also be an addition to traditional learning.

However, it is necessary that the question of access of individuals to infrastructures
is resolved to not create a technology gap between different region in and beyond
Europe. Further more, it should be noted that e-learning stipulates the necessity to
device new teaching and learning paradigms and that investment into hardware has
to be met by investment into teacher and student training, and design of teaching
modules to help to make e-learning a beneficial learning arrangement.

E-Learning must not be seen as a replacement for physical mobility but rather a
complement to it. A situation where e-learning results in immobility through
preventing physical mobility for those that cannot afford it must be prevented.

Conclusion

ESIB stresses that all students should be given the equal opportunity to study
abroad as part of their studies. This is important for the cultural and didactical
reasons outlined above. In order to achieve genuine student mobility the different
barriers to this must be effectively tackled and overcome. This must include
sufficient student financial support as well as the removal of the social and political
barriers. It should furthermore be stressed that mobility should lead to a greater
cultural understanding and respect as well as protect language and cultural diversity
in Europe. Finally, it is necessary that students are included in any negotiations and
discussions on how to achieve a higher rate of mobility.