First Europass Mobility Documents Awarded in Ireland

Date released: 27 Apr 2006

First Europass Mobility Documents awarded in Irelandunder an EU wide scheme to promote worker and student mobility.

Thirty-two students from Inchicore College of Further Education, Dublin , have today ( 27 April 2006 ) become the first people in Ireland to receive Europass Mobility Documents under an EU wide initiative to promote mobility of workers and students by making their skills and qualifications clearly understood throughout Europe .

All of the students recently completed placements in Sweden and Italy as part of their current studies, including tourism management, business, child care and theatre studies. Each Europass Mobility Document records the activities undertaken and skills gained by the student and provides an individual, official record of an organised period of time spent in another European country for the purpose of learning or training.

Congratulating the students today on their achievements, Mary Hanafin T.D., Minister for Education and Science, said The Europass Mobility Document will help people make their skills and qualifications clearly and easily understood in Europe and facilitate the mobility of both learners and workers.? This document will help people whether they are planning to enrol in an education or training programme, looking for a job, or getting experience abroad .

Martin Finn, European Projects Manager, Inchicore College of Further Education said The opportunity to complete a work placement overseas as part of a programme of study has enormous benefits for students in terms of the hands on experience gained as well as the experience of working within a different work and cultural environment. The Europass Mobility Document is a welcome development as it is a way of formally acknowledging all of these achievements."

Eighteen of the students receiving the Europass Mobility document undertook their placements in Sweden . Eight students spent three weeks working in crèches and pre school institutions in Nykoping, while two social studies students based in Stockholm shadowed social workers dealing with drug and alcohol dependent clients. The Ministry of Education in Stockholm hosted four students and the remainder were based in Hotels and Tourist Information Offices in Swedish Lapland .

A further fourteen students from Theatre Studies travelled to Padova, Italy and participated in Commedia del Arte workshops involving mask making, music and performance

In total, the Europass initiative consists of five EU standardised documents that capture people's curriculum vitae, foreign language skills, vocational training, academic achievements and mobility experiences. 30 National Europass Centres have been established in EU Member States, EFTA/EEA and candidate countries to promote the initiative. Europass is managed in Ireland by the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland and further details are available at www.europass.ie.

Ends

Mary Hanafin T.D., Minister for Education and Science with students from Inchicore College of Further Education having presented them with their Europass Mobility Documents