The British Council is pleased to announce a major new partnership with the Greek Ministry of Education that will support UK universities forming partnerships with Greek institutions in transnational education.
‘UK-Greece Strategic Partnership in Education’ is the first TNE programme between an EU country and the UK. The programme will facilitate academic collaboration, including joint and dual degrees, distance learning, summer programmes, academic and student exchanges, along with other learning opportunities.
Several Russell Group universities have expressed interest, along with higher education institutions in Greece.
The programme is designed to explore opportunities with the state university sector in Greece – new territory entirely as partnerships so far are with private colleges only. All indications are that EU countries will continue to provide growth opportunities for TNE and will continue to buck the global trend of a declining interest in TNE.
With nearly 14,000 TNE students in 2018-19, Greece is the leading host country for UK TNE learners in the EU. From the second half of April, the British Council will hold webinars for Greek and UK universities to familiarise themselves with how they can engage with the programme and all the practical sides, followed by partner-matching work in May and possible delegation visits later in the year.
Kate Joyce, Director of Higher Education and Science at the British Council, said:
“Greece is a very important market for UK TNE. The British Council is proud to support UK universities and our partners in Greece to develop new frameworks for collaboration as the systems governing our work in the European Union change. This programme is, we hope, the first of many initiatives that will ensure that universities in the UK and in European countries can strengthen partnerships and meet the challenges and opportunities of an internationalised education together.’
The Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, Niki Kerameos said:
"Greek Universities have a lot to gain but also to offer to the global academic community, through exchange of good practice and joint study programmes. A modern education system, extrovert and adapted to the needs of the 21st century will ensure that our country has the place it deserves on the international academic map."
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