According to the Socrates-Erasmus National Agency reports for 2002/03, assessed by the European Commission this week, Malta, Finland, Liechtenstein, the Czech Republic, and Belgium have the highest ratio of outgoing teachers as a proportion of the teacher population.

The report shows that the acceding countries have on average a higher ratio of outgoing teachers than the EUR18 15 (current EU Member States + the 3 EFTA/EEA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and the most popular host countries are Germany and France, receiving 25 per cent of all teachers;

Erasmus provides support for teachers giving generally short courses, as part of the official curriculum of a partner university in another European country.

The number of Erasmus teachers has been steadily increasing over the last six years (7,800 in 1997/98, 17,000 in 2002/03), and grew by almost 7 per cent in 2002/03.

The growth rate among the EUR18 was seven per cent while the growth rate in the acceding countries was five per cent – a big drop compared to the previous year (21 per cent). The number of outgoing teachers rose in only half of the 12 acceding and candidate countries.

According to the report, there have been almost no changes in the subject areas since 2000/01. Languages and Philological Sciences remain the most popular subject areas.

With regards to student mobility, the number of Erasmus students increased by seven per cent, the highest proportional increase since 1999/2000. The number of Erasmus students since the start of the programme exceeded one million in 2002/03.

While the majority of countries experienced a growth in outgoing numbers, the few countries that were stagnant or in decline in 2001/2002 had better results. Spain remained the most popular destination for students and Germany for teaching staff.

During Erasmus Week in Brussels in October 2003, Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Education and Culture told the students: “Don’t be hesitant about embarking on the Erasmus adventure. It is not only exciting, but also a shrewd career move. And at a time when you are wondering what the future holds professionally, consider the possibility of spending some time at a university in another European country.”

This message has been heard and thanks to the joint efforts by Higher Education institutions, National authorities, Students organisations and the Commission, mobility figures rose again in 2002/2003.

Erasmus gives students (up to and including doctorate, except for students enrolled in their first year of higher education) the opportunity to study for a period of 3-12 months at a university or higher education establishment in another participating country in the framework of agreed The report show that the number of Erasmus students continued to rise, both in the EUR 18, the acceding countries (Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia) and the candidate countries (Bulgaria and Romania). There were a total of 124,000 Erasmus students in 2002/03, 107,600 from the EUR18 and 16,340 from the acceding and candidate countries.

Compared to the previous year, this represents a total increase of 7.4 per cent, composed of 5.2 per cent in the EUR18 and 20 per cent in the acceding countries.

The majority of the countries experienced a growth in outgoing numbers, except the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The highest increase of outgoing students is from Germany (11 per cent) Portugal (12 per cent) and Luxembourg (14 per cent). All the countries of Southern Europe continue their steady growth.

Of the 30 participating countries, the three smallest ones Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Iceland have the highest ratio of outgoing student mobility;

In absolute terms, Spain and France are the most popular destinations for incoming Erasmus students.;

Incoming students to the acceding countries have increased by 25 per cent. For every four outgoing students from acceding and candidate countries there is one incoming.

According to the report, there were no significant changes in subject areas: Business Management/Social Sciences remained the most popular subject area group. However, some 30,000 students in Sciences, Medical sciences, Engineering and Technology took part in an Erasmus exchange last year.