Finland is one of the countries in Europe that has a different school system than the Czech one. One of the goals of the Moravian-Silesian Technological Academy is to improve and innovate our education system and for this reason a four-day educational trip of representatives of secondary vocational education of the MSK was organized. 5 team members including the CEO and CTO attended from MTA.
During the trip we visited the Business College Helsinki Vocational School where we were introduced to the teaching methods and the curriculum of the whole school. We had the opportunity to listen to a presentation about the Finnish education system and its connection to the corporate sector at the Finnish National Agency for Education. Another interesting discussion was focused on the possible implementation of examples from the Finnish education system into the education system in MSK. There, possible obstacles as well as possibilities for successful implementation in practice were pointed out.
A unique experience awaited us on a tour of the Oodi Central Library in Helsinki.
The library fills only one third of the building’s built-up space, which is located on the top floor of the building and is nicknamed “Book Heaven” (the library looks like a glass ship with clouds settling on the roof).It is functionally divided into three levels: the active ground floor, which is connected to the book heaven on the top floor, and the creative workshops in the middle part of the library. Other areas of the library are created for a café, a restaurant, a public terrace, a cinema, audiovisual recording studios and the aforementioned creative workshops equipped with 3D printers.For this reason, Oodi represents the transformation of Finnish libraries, which also offer other leisure activities than just reading and borrowing books.
Another important lecture was a discussion on the involvement of the corporate sector in Finnish vocational education, where the benefits of cooperation for both parties were presented, followed by the sharing of experiences with Finnish partners.A visit to a vocational school in Finland-Omnia was also beneficial. This school has 10 000 students and offers a wide range of subjects for study, which is accompanied by the much-needed work experience.In particular, it is possible to apply for more than 20 basic vocational degrees at Omnia and also for TUVA training, which is a preparation for higher education.Within the different fields of study, we were introduced to vocational training at school, which in Finland is emphasised from primary school onwards.
The last experience of our trip was a tour of the Helsinki Innovation Center Maria01, where the environment for new startup projects is created.
Over 170 successful projects have been successfully launched at this location.
Thanks to the contacts we made, we look forward to further cooperation, thank you for the unique experience and also the important inspiration for our future work.
