On 18 April 2012 representatives of the Slovak EMN NCP participated in the national conference of the Swedish EMN NCP on Entry and Stay of International Students followed by the EMN Cluster Meeting on 19 April 2012.
During the conference aimed at immigration of international students into Sweden various national and foreign experts delivered their speeches and presentations. Programme of the conference was divided into several blocks in which focus was placed on preparation of the main EMN study titled Immigration of International Students into EU countries which should contribute to EU policy development and the revision of the Directive 2004/114/EC on the conditions of admission of third-country national for the purposes of studies, pupil exchange, unrenumerated training or voluntary service. Programme also included presentations on legislative and general conditions for student migration to Sweden, conditions for international student mobility, student migration in a broader policy context and research topics and European perspectives.
Conference was opened by Eva Åkesson, the Vice-Chancellor of the Uppsala University, who stressed importance of linkage between policy and practice and implications for the Swedish immigration policy on universities. Following the presentation on EMN and its work programme, participants learned more about the upcoming EMN study on third country national students which is currently being prepared.
In the second session which was devoted to the conditions for student migration to Sweden the audience was provided with statistical overview and rules for entry and stay in the country. Most of third country national students came from China, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Canada in 2011. In the respective year the introduction of student fees for third country nationalscaused a decrease of number of this group of international students and led to a discussion on how to attract them. Strategy should include generous scholarship programmes and promotion of universities’ high quality. In this session results of the survey undertaken among international students on how attractive is Sweden as a destination country and what problems do they face in Sweden were presented.
In the third session, the speakers took a closer look at the Swedish higher education and the situation of the international student immigration in the form of case studies of selected EU member states, particularly from the perspective of Germany and Ireland.
The fourth session was concentrated on international cooperation and student mobility projects. Representatives of selected Swedish universities in Malmö and Jönköping as well as from the student union discussed again the impact of the legislation on the universities’ internationalization strategies and international students themselves.
The last session was devoted to the student migration in a broader policy context in the field of migration, mobility and development aid.
All presentations are available for download on the website of the Swedish EMN NCP.
Programme of the conference
Programme of the conference on Entry and Stay of International Students 2012 (355 KB)