EEA Scholarship Programme

Programme Summary

Why is the programme needed? The programme contributes to addressing two challenges in the area of education in Lithuania: 1) Enhancing student achievements in pre-school, general education and vocational training through modernisation of the curriculum, teacher training and in-service training of education staff; 2) Improving participation of adults in lifelong learning through development of competencies of adult education staff. Improvements in these areas can be enhanced through development of the competencies of public administration officials, education managers, educators and representatives of their organisations, and the education and policy research community. Learning mobility and international exchange programmes are an important tool for learning and exchange of good practices in order to develop the education sector based on democratic governance and a free market. What will the programme achieve and who are the beneficiaries? The programme corresponds to the needs of the education sector in Lithuania, and will: 1) enhance the quality of teaching; 2) enrich the educational offer with a foreign language as a language of instruction; 3) modernise and develop administrative and organisational capacities of institutions dealing with education and training on different levels; 4) increase the international dimension of teaching offered by the Lithuanian education establishment through knowledge exchange and sharing good practices between participating institutions. The main target groups are the staff of institutions active in the adult education and school education sectors, as well as postgraduate and doctoral students in the field of education. How will it be achieved? • Through increased international mobility of staff in the Lithuanian pre-school, general education, higher education and vocational training sector; • Through developed management and general competencies of adult education officials and staff. Approximately 175 persons will be directly funded through the programme, including postgraduate and doctoral students in the field of education. The programme will reach a larger target group through dissemination of good practice manuals and publications that will be developed through the projects. How will bilateral relations be strengthened? All projects will be carried out in partnership between a Lithuanian and Donor State institution. The institutional cooperation approach of the programme will facilitate and encourage relations between Lithuania and the Donor States in the education sector. It is expected that both sides will gain new insight and experience thought the cooperation. This will add value to the programme and enrich the participating entities, and provide a platform for future cooperation between Donor States and Lithuania.  The programme operator will cooperate with programme partners in the Donors States in implementing the programme. What are the partnership opportunities? There will be two calls for applications, one in 2013 and one in 2014, which will make available a total of €1,436,957. The grant amount for the projects will be between €50 000 and €100 000. Funds are available for preparatory visits for partner search and preparation of project applications with partners. A seminar will be organised for potential applicants and partners before each call is launched. Who can apply for funding under this programme? Entities registered in Lithuania and certain intergovernmental organisations are eligible as project applicants. The eligibility criteria for applicants are: • Public or private organisations may apply; • Applicants for projects must be education providers from Lithuania; • Partners must be Donor/EEA country education providers; • Projects must be non-profit seeking; • There must be least two organisations from different countries taking part in the projects. • Donor State education institutions may apply directly for preparatory visits.