Anas Mohammed Iwida, 23, an engineering student at Misrata University, and an Erasmus Mundus Alumnus from the University of Padova emphasised the importance of personal growth, as he met friends from many countries and managed to have an enriching exchange of life experiences to learn about other’s lives and visions. Anas welcomed the promises made by the EU during the meeting to facilitate the procedures for future students to access such scholarships.
Culture of debate as a way to leadership
Mohamed Ali Abdellatif, 25 has been an active participant in national and regional debates with the EU-co-funded Young Arab Voices debating programme. Ali suggested that a national initiative aimed at empowering the Libyan youth through debate trainings be developed. With the support of EU national offices, this project could be sustainable and more Libyan students would benefit and gain leadership skills.
EU funds for Libyans
In 2015-2016 there were six Erasmus projects running with total funding of €143,000, planning 32 mobility flows to Europe. The Libyan Universities involved in the scheme were Misurata, Tripoli, and Zawia, and their European partners are the universities of Grenada, Riga, and Talin. Unfortunately, to date only nine mobility flows have taken place. In fact, there are short-term academic mobility programmes for students (3-12 months) and staff (5-60 days) and long-term programmes for all levels of education, namely BA, MA, PhD, which are fully funded, according to Annemie Cumps from the Libya Desk at EU HQ.
In 2017, a further six projects will involve Libya with a budget of €157,858, and 52 available mobility flows.
All these Erasmus+ programmes are paving the way for a brighter future of higher education in Libya, with modern ways and developments being introduced to students through their individual experiences.
(Source: EU)