The Future of International Mobility for Wales discussed at the Welsh Parliament
01/10/2024
On October 1, 2024, the Welsh Parliament’s Cross Party Group (CPG), which provides a forum for the members of the Senedd from different political parties, convened to discuss about Taith (EARLALL network member) and the future of international mobility for Wales. Held at the Senedd Cymru’s Tŷ Hywel building in Cardiff, the meeting was chaired by Heledd Fychan. Participants joined both in person and virtually, as EARLALL Secretariat, and included representatives from public authorities and academic institutions in Wales, the UK and the EU.
Kirsty Williams, Chair of Taith and former Minister for Education provided a detailed overview of international mobility from the Welsh perspective. She stressed the importance of Taith to promote internationalisation and mobility pathways for Welsh stakeholders and the programme’s particular attention to underrepresented groups and learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is an aspect that has also been shared by EARLALL in its recent campaign on the EU Europe’s on the Move package. She urged Welsh authorities to continue funding and supporting Taith even if the UK regain access to Erasmus+. The co-existence of both programmes would be an asset for Welsh citizens and education providers and would enhance discussions with the EU in aspects such as visa delivery, participation in work placement (key for the VET sector), etc. Her insights were followed by a presentation from Jaime de Villota, Head of Citizens Social and JHA at the EU Delegation to the UK, who gave an EU perspective on international mobility.
Mr de Villota stressed that the EU appreciates the discussions around Taith and welcomes the cooperation between the Welsh and UK authorities and the EU. He congratulated Taith as the programme has achieved a lot in very little time, it has been quite proactive reaching out to a vast spectrum of players and covering all types and education sectors and it has also brought opportunities to those people who thought international mobility was not for them. Regarding the future, he explained that the EU is currently opening a negotiation on Youth Mobility with the UK which is still at the Council (no formal offer to the UK has been sent yet), and reminded that the UK labour government hasn’t yet expressed interest in joining Erasmus+.
Following these presentations, the floor was opened for discussion, allowing the audience to engage with the speakers on the critical issues facing Welsh and EU mobility in the coming years.
The meeting concluded with a summary of the discussions and an outline of the next steps by Heledd Fychan. Taith is undergoing an external evaluation which will add research evidence to the already received positive feedback on the programme’s impact and which will be used to advocate for a continuation of the programme. Currently. a discussion regarding Wales International Strategy is taking place at the Senedd and participants are encouraged to bring attention to the importance of including education and mobility too. The CPG emphasized its commitment to fostering dialogue and collaboration to ensure a robust future for international mobility in Wales.
