Education – Image by Stefan Meller on Pixabay
(BRUSSELS) – The EU Commission presented 16 new Teacher Academies Tuesday, offering teachers learning opportunities that include mobility, learning platforms and professional communities.
The Teacher Academies, benefiting from around EUR 22.5 million from the Erasmus+ budget over three years, will embrace multilingualism, language awareness and cultural diversity, as they develop teacher education in line with EU education policy priorities.
Member states across the EU are currently grappling with teacher shortages which represent a serious risk to the quality and equity of education. These shortages are, among other things, due to the ageing of the teacher workforce almost 40% of the teaching workforce is above 50 years and perceptions about the profession’s low attractiveness.
Education Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said: “The shortage of teachers is an EU-wide challenge to be addressed at EU level. Therefore, we are putting in place comprehensive initiatives to make the profession more attractive. Erasmus+ Teacher Academies will support our efforts to ensure high-quality initial education and continuous professional development for all teachers, educators and school leaders.”
Erasmus+ Teacher Academies are partnerships between teacher training providers and teacher education institutions that will develop a European and international outlook in teacher education. The topics covered by the projects include skills related to science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, creativity, inclusion, and environmental sustainability. As part of the 2022 call for proposals, the selected projects include 313 organisations, as well as 136 associated partners, from 30 countries (EU Member States and countries associated to Erasmus+).
Among the participating organisations there are initial teacher education providers, continuing professional development providers, practice training schools, and other organisations with relevant expertise. More information is available online.
