The UK’s Turing Scheme

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The UK launched the Turing scheme to enable UK students to study abroad after leaving the European Union’s flagship Erasmus scholarship programme.

About Turing Scheme

• It is named after the celebrated English mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing.
• The scheme will enable schools, colleges and universities in the UK to apply for government funding.
• The scheme, for which the British government has allocated 110 million pounds for the first year, starts in 2021/22.
• It allows students to study and work across the globe, including in India.

• The scheme would be a global programme in which every country in the world will be able to partner with UK institutions.
• This is in contrast with the Erasmus+ programme, which only included European countries.
• The scheme is part of the UK’s drive to increase the amount generated from education exports, including fees and income from overseas students and English language teaching abroad.
• The government aims to generate 35 billion pounds per year and bring 6 lakh, international students, to the country by 2030.

Aims & Objectives

• The scheme is aimed towards ensuring social mobility and targets students from disadvantaged backgrounds and areas from where not many could benefit under the previous Erasmus+ scheme.
• Beneficiaries of the scheme from disadvantaged backgrounds can receive up to 490 pounds per month towards living costs, as well as travel funding and money to offset the cost of passports, visas and insurance.
• These projects offer unique,?career-building opportunities. They?give?participants the hard and soft skills sought by employers, and bridge the gap between education and work.?

How is it different from Erasmus?

• The Turing scheme will provide placements across the world.
• Erasmus covers placements across the EU and some non-EU countries that pay to be part of the scheme.
• Both schemes are open not only to university students but also to those in vocational training, apprentices or those who are retraining through a college or school.
• Erasmus offers placements for teaching and college staff and youth workers as well, but the Turing scheme will not.

Implications on India

• India is already a top source of international students to the UK and could be among the leading list of countries with which UK universities want to improve student exchange projects.
• It will open up more opportunities for international and Indian students to gain valuable international experience.
• It will provide opportunities especially for students with disadvantaged backgrounds who were less likely to benefit from the previous EU scheme.

Source : IE