European MA gets a longer life
11 August 2010
The European MA in Lifelong Learning has received another five years' funding from the EU's Erasmus Mundus scheme. The consortium that runs the scheme, led by the Danish School of Education, University of Aarhus, also comprises the Institute of Education, London and the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. They will be joined this year by the University of Melbourne.
The process for renewed funding is highly competitive, and the MALLL consortium remains one of the very few education-related Erasmus Mundus MA programmes, and the first to be granted an extension.
The funding, initially granted in 2005 for five years, provides full scholarships, including fees and living costs, for 20 or more non-European students every year to study on the two-year MA programme. Students take modules at a minimum of two different partner universities during this period. Erasmus Mundus also provides generous funding for a number of visiting scholars every year.
Edward Vickers, MALLL course leader at the IOE, said: "The fact that the IOE and its partners have earned the continued backing of the EU for the MALLL programme is a significant vote of confidence in the programme itself, and the institutions involved in delivering it."
The Erasmus Mundus scheme showcases European expertise in all areas of higher education, and is designed to strengthen links between Europe and the rest of the world.
Scholarships on the MALLL programme are now available to European as well as non-European students, and the number is likely to vary from year to year. Currently, a scholarship for a non-European student is worth 48,000 Euros over the two-year period of the course, and one for European students is worth 20,000 Euros. Tuition fees are deducted from these scholarships by the partner institutions. Places are also available for self-funding students.
The MALLL programme was created in response to the growing recognition of the Importance of lifelong learning in national and international policy. It aims to provide policy-makers and professionals with responsibility for managing, delivering or supporting LLL with opportunities to develop a critical perspective on what is a constantly changing economic, social, technological and policy environment.
The scholars who will be attached to the programme over the 2010-11 year are Professor Krishna Kumar of the University of Delhi, until recently the head of India's National Council for Educational Research and Training; Professor Gita Steiner-Khamsi of Columbia University, recently President of the Comparative and International Education Society; and Professor Zeng Xiaodong of Beijing Normal University, co-author of a recent volume (in Chinese) on the development of China's education system during the 'Reform and Opening' period.