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Informazioni sui finanziamenti
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Queste informazioni sono stati forniti da NILE, Norwich
Institute for Language Education, un leader nel campo di formazioni
per insegnanti e consulenze, che offrono anche un corso MASTER'S per
insegnanti, che si può seguire in gran parte a distanza. |
Comenius Funding
Many readers will no doubt be aware that something called ‘Comenius funding’
is available from the European Commission to enable teachers of English
to follow accredited professional development courses, but a lot of people
remain unaware exactly how these grants can be obtained. This article aims
both to de-mystify the application procedure and to clarify eligibility
criteria.
What is Comenius?
Comenius is the first of eight programmes (referred to as actions), within
the SOCRATES European Community Programme for Education[1]. Its objectives,
as defined by the European Commission, are as follows: “…to enhance the
quality and reinforce the European dimension of school education, in
particular by encouraging transnational cooperation between schools,
contributing to the improved professional development of staff directly
involved in the school education sector, and promoting the learning of
languages and intercultural awareness.”
From January 1st 2007, Comenius funding will continue under the new
European Life-long Learning Programme (LLP), which will continue to offer
teachers and other staff within the school education sector opportunities
for international professional development.
You can find the main site for grants for teachers of English
here
Comenius is divided into 3 parts. Comenius 1 is concerned with school
partnerships; Comenius 2 with the training of school education
staff; and Comenius 3 with ‘Networks.’ Of most interest to readers is
Comenius 2.2, which provides in-service training grants for
language teachers, with some 6,000 – 7,000 teachers obtaining grants
each year under this programme.
Eligibility
Under Comenius 2.2, language teachers are awarded individual grants
for in-service training courses, enabling them to participate in courses
lasting between one and four weeks.
To qualify for one of these grants, teachers must come both from an eligible
country and an eligible institution. Currently, the Comenius programme is
open to participants from the following countries: - The twenty-five
Member States of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Finland, Hungary,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands,
Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom
- The EFTA/EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway
- The associated countries from Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria,
Romania and Turkey.
The Comenius programme applies to all institutions involved in school
education. It also applies to those bodies responsible for school education
systems and policies at local, regional and national level, to associations
working in the field of school education, social partners, companies, trade
organisations etc. It should be noted that, in most cases, individuals can
only participate in Comenius through their ‘home’ institution.
In addition to this, applicants for funding under Comenius 2.2 should
fall into one of the following categories:
* A teacher teaching an official language of the EU as a foreign language
* A foreign language teacher trainer
*A primary teacher who will teach foreign languages at some point in the
future
*A teacher teaching language across the curriculum
*A student teacher
*Non-teaching education staff, (inspectors, advisors, heads of institutions,
counsellors,etc.) involved in the teaching of foreign languages
*Tutors, mentors or other educators working with pupils at risk of exclusion,
children of migrant workers, gypsies, travellers and occupational travellers
The maximum grant is currently 1500 euros. The grant is designed to
help cover course fees, travel to and from the country of study and
subsistence costs.
Finding a Course Look no further! Go to
Indirizzo Inghilterra's summary of
teachers' courses
For the period beginning 1 August 2003, a number of changes are taking place
in the way in which the Comenius programme is administered. The most
significant of which, in an ELT context, is that there will no longer be a
central database of courses from which to choose. Instead, a completely new
catalogue containing only those courses linked to Comenius 2.1 projects will
supersede the present database. This does not mean that Comenius grants for
courses for teachers of English are not available, but that individuals will
now have to locate suitable courses for themselves. To assist potential
applicants in finding reputable courses, it is hoped that visitors to the
Socrates UK website will be able to access a list of British Council
accredited language providers. There are also a number of other National
Agencies who are providing both course information and links to accredited
course providers on their websites. Applicants will still need to
pre-register with course providers before submitting an application to their
National Agency. The European Commission has requested that National
Agencies advise course providers of successful applicants directly.
Application Procedure
(i) In the first instance, contact your National Agency to obtain an
application pack. National Agency details can be found at
EUROPA - Education and Training - Comenius - National Agencies
The site gives these details for Italy:
Agenzia Nazionale Socrates Italia
INDIRE
Via Nardo di Cione 22
IT - 50122 Firenze
Tel.: (39-055) 2380.326/328/338/387/388/389
Fax: (39-055) 2380.343/399
E-mail.: comenius1@indire.it
comenius2@indire.it
comenius3@indire.it
Internet: http://www.indire.it
A significant change for applicants is the introduction of European-wide
deadlines for applications. The deadlines for grant applications to training
activities taking place between 1 June 2007 and 30 June 2008 are as follows:
30 March 2007 (for activities from 1 June - 30 September 2007)
30 May 2007 (for activities taking place 1 October 2007 - 31 January 2008)
30 October 2007 (for activities from 1 February - 30 June 2008)
(ii) Contact the institution concerned in order to pre-register for the
course. You will then receive a certificate of enrolment which should be
submitted to your National Agency along with your application form. Please
note that institutions are not expected to require a deposit until a full
course registration has been made, normally after the applicant has been
notified of the results of his or her application.
(iii) Apply to your National Agency, ensuring that you submit the
application by the appropriate closing date. Make sure you quote in your
application:
- institution contact details
- course title and dates
Teachers are normally told whether their funding application has been
successful at the latest 6 weeks before the course start date.
[1] Projects and activities relating to school education but not fitting
into these categories may be eligible for support under Accompanying
Measures.
[2] Full details of all programmes available under the SOCRATES programme
can be found on the website of the European Commission.
N.B. Every year the Ente Nazionale di Assistenza
Magistrale (ENAM) awards at least 500 grants to Italian teachers
of foreign language working in Primary and
Kindergarten schools.The amount awarded is up to around EURO
1300 per teacher.
An application form can be requested from 'Ente Nazionale di Assistenze
Magistrale', Viale Trastevere 231, 00153 Roma..
The deadline is normally 31 March, but this should be verified with
ENAM. Send completed forms to ENAM at the above address. Web
site www.enamonline.it
Choose any of our locations for a
General English course - for specific courses for primary teachers,
choose between Plymouth or
Cork, see pagetorna su |
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