The SEGIB wants young people pick a name for their future based on a mobility programme in Latin America dedicated to students, teachers and researchers.

This is an old dream we have been pursuing for years but that finally took off at the Latin American Summit in Veracruz 2014. This Latin American ‘Erasmus’ is taking form and according to Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary of the SEGIB, 200,000 youths from Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries will have benefited from this programme by 2020.

During a first phase, the idea is that this Latin American Erasmus project will grant scholarships worth 3,000 to 4,000 euros for up to six-month stays. In the case of universities that require mandatory practical training in order to graduate, this training will also be included in the programme. In the long term, the programme will establish relations with the European Erasmus project. Grynspan says that she does not want centralised aid but rather the support of private institutions. There were 20 million university students in Latin America in 2012 and the intention is to double that number by 2025.

“Latin America is a region that is viewed with optimism, where almost without exception the countries have entered the category of middle-income states“, asserted Grynspan. “Several are already in the high-income group and others are considered emerging. Brazil, Mexico and Argentina belong to the G20“. Two of every three university students belong to the first generation in their families that have gone to university.

Latin America already has a clear idea on how to copy the European Erasmus grant project. The Secretary General for Latin America (SEGIB), Rebeca Grynspan, will launch the Alliance for Latin American Academic Mobility together with Banco Santander. Students may choose the new name of the scholarship programme through the campaign titled Pick a Name for your Future launched on social networks via the SEGIB and the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI).

What name will you suggest? Take part and Pick a Name for your Future!