The ERASMUS – SOCRATES program was founded in the bosom of the European Union in order to promote the collaboration of the member states in the area of Education. It includes:

1. The ERASMUS program which pertains to higher/university education.
2. The COMENIUS program which pertains to elementary (pre – school/school) and secondary education (gymnasiums/lyceums).
3. The GRUNDVIG program which pertains to adult education.
4. The MINERVA program which aims at collaboration in the area of the technology of information and communication.
5. The activities of LINGUA I and LINGUA II which aim at helping the citizens of the member states realize the linguistic variety of the European Union countries, to encourage the creation of pioneering teaching models of linguistic instruction and finally to secure their dissemination.

The aims of the ERASMUS – SOCRATES Program for the period 2000 – 2006 are:

• The improvement of the quality of the Higher Education which is provided in the member states
• The enhancement of the “European Dimension” of the Higher Education.

2. Mobility Statistics of the Student – Members of the Teaching Research Faculty

About 750,000 students went with an ERASMUS scholarship abroad from 1987/88 to 1999/2000 while 1800 universities participated in the program. During 1998 – 2003, 20 students of the Department of Education Sciences in Pre-School Age attended different universities of the European Common Market countries as ERASMUS students for three, six or nine months, while at the same time the Department of Educational Science in Early Childhood accommodated 20 ERASMUS students from universities from Spain, France, Holland and Finland. At the same time, there were exchanges of members of the Teaching and Research Personnel from and to the universities of France, England, Spain, Finland, Italy and Portugal.

3. Bilateral Agreements of the Department of Education Sciences in Pre-School Age
The Department of Education Sciences in Pre-School Age has signed, for the academic year 2003 – 2004, bilateral collaborative agreements for the exchanges of students and members of the faculty and research personnel with the following universities:
England: University of Glamorgan, University of Reading.
Belgium: Katholieke Hogeschool Zuid – West.
France: Universite Michel de Mongaigne – Bordeaux, Universite Paul Valery – Montpellier.
Finland : University of Turku.
Holland : Hogeschool Domstad.
Spain: Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Universidad de Burgos, Universidad de Cordoba, Universidad de Granada.

4. More specialized information

• Participation prerequisites : All students who have completed their 1st year of studies can participate in the ERASMUS – SOCRATES program.
• Time of stay abroad: Students can stay for three, six or nine months according to the agreement terms with every university abroad.
• Scholarship amounts: Every student receives a scholarship in accordance with the time of his stay abroad (3, 6, 9 months). The highest amount of monthly allowance is regulated annually by the European Union.
• Course Credit transfer: From 1998 – 1999 the Department of Education Sciences in Pre-School Age has become affiliated with the European Community Course Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This allows the mutual recognition of courses students attend in affiliated University Departments abroad. Before his/her departure, the student, with the help of the program coordinator and based on his/her interests, chooses a number of courses he/she will attend in the Reception Institute which, in its turn, offers the student these courses of his/her choice. The Institute of Origin signs a special agreement (learning agreement) which obliges it to recognize these courses and the grades the student receives and to correlate them with its courses as long as the student hands in official documents certifying that he/she has completed his/her studies successfully.
• Application Procedure: Students can submit applications every year in March or April if they plan to leave the following academic year. Students are apprised beforehand.

For more information:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/socrates/

http://erasmus.duth.gr/