Erasmus Policy Statement 2014 – 2020
Celje School of Economics, Vocational College

All potential outgoing participants of mobility have the opportunity to express their wishes concerning partner institutions of their personal interest, what is true especially for work placement. Students prefer English speaking areas in Europe because of their knowledge of English.

Celje School of Economics, Vocational College has always strived for the best possible education for our students. It is important for both students and lecturers to be included into international projects and to cooperate with partners at home and abroad. Domestic and foreign partners are therefore part of our educational process. We hope to achieve the so-called internationality of school with connecting institutions of tertiary educational process with mobility of students and lecturers.

Educational systems will be compared and gained qualifications will be recognized as good practice and therefore conveyed into performing of educational process. Introducing modern learning methods and skills, improving and expanding applied knowledge will increase quality of educational system and on the other hand foreign experts will become part of educational process. This will also ensure stimulating student surroundings.

The main objectives to be reached by participating in Erasmus programme are:
–  to raise the motivation of students and staff for Erasmus mobility and LLL;
–  to raise the quality of educational processes at Celje School of Economics, Vocational College;
–  to introduce new learning methods, particularly the ICT supported ones;
–  students of our institution who will not be able to take part in the Erasmus mobility due to the limited number of grants will benefit from the lectures given by the lecturers from Erasmus partner institutions;
–  to intensify the European dimension of the study programmes by expanding the Erasmus mobility for students to work placements abroad;
–  to intensify the existing cooperation with the republics of the former Yugoslavia acting as a bridge institution between them and Europe;
–  to continue development of cooperation with European higher education institutions by participating in further Erasmus activities (e.g. study visits, multilateral projects etc.) in the future;
–  to expand the network of EU partner institutions and
–  to get the opportunity to participate in other Erasmus projects beside mobility (STA, STT, SMS, SMP) particularly in IP and multilateral projects.

The priority action will be Erasmus individual mobility because it involves all participants in the educational process- the students and the staff. The knowledge and experience gained through the mobility of all target groups will thus provide a synergy effect on the educational process. On the other hand our internationalization strategy aims at modernizing and upgrading of the study programmes and keeping them up-to-date according to the needs of the target sector. Participation in IP and multilateral projects will give us the possibility to implement such changes in accordance with the European trends. The new contacts with the prospective partners in such projects will be arranged within the preparatory visits. In order to ensure high quality of all Erasmus actions Celje School of Economics, Vocational College will concentrate on these actions in the first phase.

There are strong links with the countries of former Yugoslavia and other neighbouring countries which represent a potential labour market. We have been already working with educational institutions in Serbia and Macedonia and we would like to reward cooperation in the context of LLL as well.

We will contribute to the 5 priorities of the European Union’s modernisation and internationalisation agenda in higher education:
1. Increasing attainment levels to provide the graduates and researchers Europe needs – Introducing modern learning methods and skills, improving and expanding applied knowledge will increase quality of educational system and on the other hand foreign experts will become part of educational process.
2. Improving the quality and relevance of higher education – by introducing new learning methods, particularly the ICT supported ones. Individuals by going in foreign country develop their professional, social and intercultural skills and employability.
3. Strengthening quality through mobility and cross-border cooperation. The knowledge and experience gained through the mobility of all target groups will thus provide a synergy effect on the educational process.
4. Linking higher education, research and business for excellence and regional Development – especially by performing student placement in foreign companies. From our perspective this is seen as a great advantage which will benefit students as references in domestic competitive labour market.
5. Improving governance and funding – Obtaining additional resources to gain experience as well.