We would like to inform Dorianne Buttigieg (April 3) that her grant was issued and sent to her home address on March 24, the day the bank draft was issued by the Finance Department. Further to this, Switzerland, which Ms Buttigieg mentioned in her letter, is not part of the Erasmus programme since it is not an EU member state.

Reference is also made to her comment that she was the first student to attend the Catholic University of Leuven as an Erasmus student. This is incorrect. In past years, other students have taken up placements at this university and this year an STHB student from our Faculty of Theology also studied at Leuven on an Erasmus exchange from September 20 to February12.

It is important to note that the selection of the agreement with the Catholic University of Leuven is made by the faculty (as are all other Erasmus agreements). The Catholic University of Leuven, where several faculty members of the University of Malta were educated, is considered to be one of the most prestigious Catholic universities in Europe. May we add that no first payments, according to EU rules, can be made unless the learning agreement of the individual student is deposited with the Erasmus Office.

In Malta, the last information session was held with the Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU) on February 8. At this meeting Maltese students were reminded (as are all other European students) that the Erasmus grant is not a scholarship fund. Thus it is the studying abroad aspect that is publicised, not the grant element. Maltese students, unlike many of their EU counterparts, have also been given the privilege of taking their monthly stipend with them for their period of Erasmus mobility. This year's Erasmus mobility opportunities given by the Erasmus office to the student body at the University of Malta amounts to 550 placements. This is the highest figure for mobility placement opportunities among one-university European member states.

It is hoped that Maltese university students, once selected, will take up this opportunity to obtain their prestigious Erasmus label.