In order to gain professional experience, encouraging India-Europe academic and cultural collaboration, Indian graduates will be provided with an opportunity to intern as English Teaching Assistants at schools and summer camps for six months with pay in Europe.
“I wanted to go abroad to study but that was expensive, so I decided to search for an internship to cover my expenses. It is then that I came across ‘Erasmus in School’ initiative and applied immediately and fortunately received an internship in Barcelona, Spain,” says Tushar Bhardwaj who could not finance his education outside India.
Also, to develop collaboration Indian schools, kindergartens, and language academics can post vacancies at ‘Erasmus in School’ on the portal for inviting European teaching assistants.
“After clearing my interview, I worked as an English teaching assistant 15-20 hours/week at a school, earning enough to live in Europe and still have spare time to pursue other activities,” says the 22-year-old, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Food Technology from the Delhi University.
“Knowing the native language while applying is not a pre-requisite, you simply need to know English. I not only gained professional skills but also had a chance to closely witness another culture by being directly involved with the students,” says Tushar.
“Also, teaching provides a full set of skills transferable to any career field, such as leadership, public speaking, creativity, efficient communication, behavior management, and organization,” he adds.
With the implementation of this portal, as many as 800 students/ graduates from India have been sent to Europe for interning as English Teaching Assistants, says María López de Bayas Alcántara, Head of Partnerships for ‘Erasmus in Schools’, who also came to India for teaching after teaching in the UK and German schools.
“The number keeps on increasing as nowadays, schools from other countries outside Europe like Bahrain, China, South Korea, Thailand, Costa Rica, and Colombia, are also posting their vacancies for both roles—language teaching assistant and language teachers,” she adds.
Speaking about her experience in India, Maria says, “I had the chance to learn more about international curriculum, teaching methodologies and how to deal with extremely well behaved but naughty students. I consider India is a country that makes you sharper, that is one of the reasons why I think any Indian in Europe shines.”
For being eligible to apply for the internship, the candidate must be proficient in English equivalent in C1 under European policies.
Steps to apply for the internship are as follows:
Step 1: Visit the official website http://portalwww.erasmusinschool.com
Step 2: Send your CV to the interested recruiters through ‘Erasmus in Schools’ portal
Step 3: The candidate will be interviewed through Skype, and if selected the visa process will be initiated