Dr Jones was head of the European Commission’s first-ever department for education and youth policies in 1973, as well as the Commission’s director for education, training and youth. He played the leading role in the design, negotiation and management of several EU flagship programmes, notably Erasmus, Comett, Tempus and Petra. He was then designated as director of the Commission’s task force for human resources, education, training and youth, with responsibility for the oversight of all EU education programmes. Hywel has been awarded doctorates by many European universities and holds fellowships from universities worldwide, among many other awards for his contributions to international educational exchange.
Dr Hywel Ceri Jones, one of the founders of the Erasmus scheme, shows why Erasmus’ replacement, Turing, is not up to scratch. With less generous provisions and less support for the less well-off, Turing is not as good as Erasmus.
Dr Hywel Ceri Jones, who helped found Erasmus, explains why abandoning it was such a mistake in the government’s pursuit of a global Britain. “With its global interests in view, the closest UK involvement in Horizon and Erasmus is an obvious and necessary investment. It makes little economic or policy sense to join one but not the other.”
Dr Hywel Ceri Jones was the EU Commission’s director for education, training and youth when Erasmus was founded in 1987. He argues that the Scottish and Welsh governments should now jointly call on the UK parliament to reconsider and reject the rationale for the damaging decision to leave the Erasmus scheme, putting first the future of our young people and the interests of the four nations.