The figure includes 7,600 primary and secondary school teachers, 4,100 university professors, 8,600 secondary school students and 13,600 university students, Minister of Education, Science and Sport Maja Makovec Brenčič said on Friday.

The figures were presented at an event marking 30 years of Erasmus+, a programme that Makovec Brenčič said helped "eliminate seemingly insurmountable borders".

Slovenia joined the programme in 1999. This year it plans to spend EUR 15.5m on Erasmus+ training and education, for next year EUR 18m has been budgeted.

Zoran Stančič, the head of the European Commission Representation in Slovenia, noted that this was one of the most successful EU programmes which has so far made it possible for nine million people to study, train or volunteer abroad.

Studies show that Erasmus+ is well known at all levels of the educational system and has a positive impact on the entire system, said Eva Klemenčič from the Educational Research Institute.

It affects particular career development, quality of instruction, motivation and knowledge of foreign languages. The challenge in the future is to disseminate and apply high-quality results, according to her.