EU-Australia co-operation in education and training
EU-Australia co-operation in education and training is underpinned by policy dialogue at government level and bilateral projects among institutions.
Policy Dialogue
The Joint Declaration on Cooperation in Education and Training between the EU and Australia, signed in 2007, led to the inclusion of these areas in the EU-Australia Partnership Framework the following year aiming at strengthening co-operation in a variety of fields.The inaugural policy dialogue meeting between the European Commission and Australia was held in March 2009 in Melbourne. The focus was on reforms in higher education, as well as mobility and quality and led to a joint EU-Australia Tuning pilot project encouraging enhanced co-operation in higher education between Australia and the European Union to align academic standards and reference points.
The second dialogue was held in December 2010 in Brussels. It particularly concentrated on qualifications frameworks and both Parties agreed on a Joint Statement with concrete follow-up actions. A peer learning activity involving experts on qualifications frameworks from 35 countries took place the two days prior to the policy dialogue meeting leading to the launch of a joint study between the EU and Australia on qualifications frameworks. The results of the joint study on the role of qualifications frameworks in facilitating the mobility of workers and learners were published in October 2011 (summary).
The third dialogue was held in April 2011 in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne engaging with policy makers, researchers and practitioners in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care and resulted in a Joint Statement. One of the follow-up actions from this particular dialogue will be a policy paper, focusing on the role of Early Childhood Education and Care in promoting educational attainment including social development of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and in fostering social inclusion. In addition, a joint expert seminar featuring the outcomes of previous policy dialogues and informing the future policy dialogues on quality and lifelong learning will be held in 2012 in Australia.
In 2012, the next EU-Australia policy dialogue in education and training will be held in Europe and will focus on internationalisation of education.
Curriculum development and mobility projects
The European Commission and Australia have co-operated in curriculum development and mobility projects since 2002. . These have funded over 1.100 students from 35 Australian and 66 European institutions (from 20 Member States) to spend a study period abroad.Exchanges such as these give students the opportunity to develop their personal skills, improve their employment prospects and prepare them for working in increasingly globalised environments. They have also strengthened links between European and Australian institutions. The next round of EU-Australia bilateral projects will be announced in November 2011 and will focus on joint and double degrees.
