Grahamstown learners could soon be saying ‘hei!’ to their peers in Finland via a school-to-school web programme after a Makana Municipality delegation visited the town of Raseborg in Finland recently.
Grahamstown learners could soon be saying ‘hei!’ to their peers in Finland via a school-to-school web programme after a Makana Municipality delegation visited the town of Raseborg in Finland recently.
“Finland is rated as number one with their education”, said Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart. Baart went to Finland with Julia Wells, chairperson of the Social Services Portfolio Committee and Local Economic Development Director Riana Meiring, where they exchanged knowledge and experiences with the Raseborg municipality.
As a result, they will now be looking into using an interactive school-to-school web-based programme which can be used in real time as an educational and social tool. Wells pointed out that Finland’s education system is strong in the fields of mathematics and science.
They also visited a vocational school with branches throughout Finland that provide adult education and tuition in soft skills such as catering, a useful training template that could impact on local unemployment.
Baart said the partnership with Raseborg has areas of cooperation that are clearly identifiable and mutually beneficial. The partnership is supported by the South African embassy and originally started off on the basis that both municipalities are festival towns.
“Once we got to know each other, we saw there are many things that can be learned and exchanged,” said Wells. Six focus areas have been identified within the partnership and these areas will be explored involving different stakeholders.
Environmental management is another point of focus. “What’s interesting is the public involvement and regulation framework that they have got in recycling” where plastic bottles are resold by people,” Baart said. This is something they would like to look into by partnering with businesses. Meiring said it was important to note that one of the core principles the municipality has always underscored is its partnerships.
They realise that without partnerships, either from government departments or businesses they would not be able facilitate and stimulate economic growth and development in Makana. Wells mentioned that Raseborg has a whole village in their municipal area set aside for arts and culture including a visiting artists programme.
Baart said they intend to pursue a cultural exchange programme where artists will be identified to experience three months there. Likewise a visit to Novia University, where they were received by a former Rhodes University student, “will make the exchange programme between the two universities much easier.”
A visit to a bicycle factory also impressed and they will be looking into doing a feasibility study for a bicycle factory in Grahamstown. The partnership with Raseborg will run for three years, starting on 1 February 2011 and has a seed funding of R1million.
Baart said stakeholders who participated in hosting the Finnish delegation when they were in Grahamstown in November and who form part of the envisaged focus areas and projects, will receive a full report on this trip on Friday 3 December at the City Hall.
