Free Interrail pass makes way for new exchange programme

The European Commission wants to send at least 5,000 young people on exchanges to a school in a different EU Member State. The proposal, which will cost EUR 2.5 million, is aimed at schoolchildren aged 16 and over. It replaces the idea of giving all European 18-year-olds a free Interrail pass, which would have cost a whopping EUR 1.9 billion a year. “I am very pleased that the Commission is shelving those megalomaniac plans,” says MEP Anneleen Van Bossuyt. “However, we must examine thoroughly whether the Commission is indeed now setting the right priorities.”

In the new pilot project of the European Commission, young people would get the opportunity to be educated in a classroom setting during a school visit. “That of course does sound good, but in fact this idea already existed earlier under the Comenius programme. The Commission scrapped it a few years ago, just to dust it off and reintroduce it now. It’s more than a little confusing for the schools and committed teaching staff. How long will this new trial balloon be able to count on support?” wonders Anneleen Van Bossuyt.

Travel project becomes learning project

Anneleen Van Bossuyt will thoroughly examine the new plan of the Commission and wait to see if the focus really does shift from city trips to learning: “I have long advocated giving young people valuable study experiences instead of glorified jollies. Hopefully this proposal will fit in effectively with a further expansion of Erasmus+. That exchange programme is an undeniable success story.”