Following in the footsteps of the highly successful and globally recognised ‘Erasmus’ programme (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) student exchange programme, the ‘Campus’ initiative (Collective Action for the Mobility Program of University Student) is becoming more and more notable. While Erasmus is a European project financed by the European Commission, Campus is an Asian initiative.

South Korea, China and Japan have set up a joint committee that recently held its Second Trilateral Summit meeting in Tokyo on facilitating the academic exchange within the region. The key objectives of the Campus programme are very similar to Europe’s Bologna Process. The participating countries aim to harmonise the South Korean, Chinese and Japanese higher education systems by providing joint recognition of academic credits and assuring quality control.

The next joint committee meeting is scheduled for autumn 2010 in China where these three countries continue discussing how their economies can be effectively improved through extensive human resource development actions focusing on student mobility and quality assurance. If Campus becomes a Bologna-like process, what could its potential effects be on the international mobility trend of Asian students coming to Europe higher education?

HEDDA

Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology