Education Minister John O’Dowd has met visiting European teachers and students at an Erasmus+ Exchange Assembly in St Ronan’s College Lurgan.
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St Ronan’s College is hosting an Erasmus+ exchange programme until 10 October. Seventeen teachers and 17 students from France, Austria, Germany, Italy and Greece are visiting the north of Ireland as part of the exchange programme.
Erasmus + is the European Union programme for education, training, youth and sport. It began last year and will run until 2020 with schools and other organisations invited to apply for funding.
Speaking at a special Assembly at St Ronan’s College to welcome the visitors, John O’Dowd said:
“Erasmus + is an opportunity to make a real difference to students through improving their employability skills and school-business links.
Taking part in this project is an opportunity to develop skills such as problem solving and new languages and to collaborate with others in Europe. These next few days are a fantastic opportunity to actually meet and learn from counterparts in Europe.
Although we may speak different languages we all share a common European identity. I hope this project continues to be a positive influence on the learning across this school and across all schools with whom you are partnered.”
Notes to editors:
1. The Department of Education’s ‘Education Works’ campaign promotes the value of education. This year’s campaign aims to ensure that parents have information on schooling and that they are aware of the steps they can take to ‘Get Involved’ and support their teenager in achieving good outcomes at school. Watch out for the ads on television, radio and outdoor locations. The campaign highlights the vital role families can play in helping children do well at school and improve their life chances. Visit nidirect for more information or watch the TV ad on the Department’s YouTube channel.
2. See photos from the Department of Education in our collection on Flickr.
3. Media enquiries to the Department of Education Press Office Tel: 028 9127 9207. Out of office hours, contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 076 99 715 440, and your call will be returned.
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