admin The new Turing Scheme announced by the British government will affect the higher education sector quite favorably. Schools, colleges and universities from across the UK can now apply for government funding from a 110 million pounds pot to enable students to study and work across the globe, including in India, as part of the new Turing Scheme.
Details about the Turing Scheme
The new Turing Scheme is so-named after the renowned mathematician and code breaker, Alan Turing. This new initiative marks a sharp disjuncture from the pre-Brexit European Union student exchange programme named Erasmus. This new policy will serve as a means to widen the network of students travelling to study abroad. The programme is set to fund a total of 35,000 global exchanges from September 2021. This will include university study, school exchanges, and industry work placements. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson asserted, “The Turing Scheme is a truly global programme with every country in the world eligible to partner with UK universities, schools and colleges. It is also levelling up in action, as the scheme seeks to help students of all income groups from across the country experience fantastic education opportunities in any country they choose.”
To promote the scheme further, UK organizations are being encouraged to form expansive partnerships across the globe. Successful applications will receive funding for administering the scheme and students taking part will receive grants to help them with the costs of their international experience.
Objectives of the Scheme
According to the Department of Education this new endeavor was aimed at improving the rates of social mobility by targeting students from the disadvantaged backgrounds and areas which did not previously have many students benefiting from the Erasmus policy. Under the scheme, university students from disadvantaged backgrounds could receive up to 490 pounds per month towards the fulfillment of their living costs, alongside travel funding, and other forms of additional funding to offset the cost of passports, visas and insurance.
Gavin Williamson, UK Education Secretary called the programme a ‘landmark step’. He asserted, “The programme’s focus on social mobility and value for money will open up more opportunities for international education and travel to all of our students, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds who were less likely to benefit from the previous EU scheme.”
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