Finland is regarded as having the best education system in the world. Now, Finland is helping raise the educational quality in the Dominican Republic. The National Institute of Technical and Vocational Training (Infotep) is adopting a Finish teaching model where students are taught to be proactive, critical, self-managing individuals and teamwork is encouraged.
As part of an inter-institutional agreement signed in 2017 between Infotep and the Hame University of Applied Sciences (HAMK) in Finland, an Infotep delegation of 55 traveled recently to Finland to get a first-hand glimpse of the innovative educational concepts and receive specialized training.
Maaret Viskari, global director of education of the HAMK, said after the experience in Finland, the group is working on 12 projects for evaluation, curriculum, professional development of teachers, environment, pedagogical practice, quality control and cooperation with the private sector.
“From these pilot projects, Infotep can go further and think about the areas that need more development and how to involve more people. This is just the beginning,” she said.
The academic added that the 55 managers, technicians and teachers who traveled to Finland will now lead the educational advancement so that hundreds of teachers and students will benefit from the Infotep centers spread throughout the Dominican territory.
Heidi Ahokallio-Leppälä, vice-rector of the HAMK, emphasized that the collaboration seeks to provide Dominicans with tools and advice to adopt the Finish model to the local culture. “Our model works in our culture, but Dominicans must take and leave what serves their culture. That is very important when it comes to education and skills because we know that one size does not serve all countries equally,” she said. She said it could take a decade to change the local educational paradigms. In the Finnish case, she said, it took more than 50 years to reach the current level of education, but other countries could do it faster.
Infotep general director, Rafael Ovalles highlighted the effort is part of President Medina’s vision of technical-vocational training as an educational option for Dominicans nationwide. But the incorporation of the new teaching-learning model is expected to also raise the quality of learning processes and have an effect on the entire national education system. The new model is a central part of the Infotep 2019-2021 plan.
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6 February 2020