In January 2019, a pilot course in entrepreneurship was introduced in seven Saudi high schools with the goal of giving students knowledge and experience in entrepreneurship and ensuring students’ readiness for business life. The course is based on two Finnish professional training modules, “Entrepreneurial Mindset” and “Planning a Business”, tailored to fit the Saudi market and delivered by local teachers who are trained and supported by experts from Omnia Education Partnerships.

The course is organized in partnership with Saudi Ministry of Education and Small & Medium Enterprises General Authority Monsha’at.

An eye-opening experience for students

129 students are now taking the course in Saudi Arabia. In the school of Al Motaqadimah located in Riyadh, Ammar, 18, and Abdullah, 17, are two of those students. The two boys describe their learning journey as an eye-opening one.

“I used to think of entrepreneurship as a career choice for someone who has failed in university,” Ammar admits. Today, he considers entrepreneurship as his dream work, which allows him to contribute to his community in a meaningful way. Ammar is still planning on going to university, but is also working in a company he set up with his father.

Abdullah’s dream since childhood has been to work with science, perhaps with biochemistry. After joining the course, he was surprised how much his options multiplied: “It changed my perspective. I was relieved to learn that I can do whatever I want. I am still sticking to science, but I have many ideas now.”

Course feedback from both students and teachers has been overwhelmingly positive. 87,5 % percent of the students graded the first module as a 4 or 5 on a scale from 1 to 5. In addition to gaining knowledge about entrepreneurship and the world of companies, the students have developed important life skills. According to the students themselves, the tops skills and attributes they have developed include goal setting, self-confidence, dealing with uncertainty, creativity, problem solving as well as presentation and digital skills.

For Abdullah, working in a team and discussing ideas with other students has been one of the most important aspects of the course. “Before, I thought I didn’t need any help from anyone. During the course, I have learned to work in a team and appreciate teamwork,” he explains. “I have also learned how to act in a professional manner.”

Ammar has learned a lot about managing a business and is no longer afraid of failing or taking risks. “I am a hard worker now and someone who believes in business,” he points out.
The boys would recommend the course to all young people: “This course gives you hope, you are recognized. I would definitely recommend it even if it might be a bit uncomfortable,” says Abdullah.

The entrepreneurship course will come to an end in December 2019, and students who have successfully completed both modules will receive an official Diploma from Omnia, the Joint Authority of Education in the Espoo Region.

Gradia has launched two diploma programs with new Chinese partners during autumn 2019. Programs are joint efforts with EduCluster Finland.

Entrepreneurship as an exciting learning method

At Shanghai Modern Circulation School, 35 third-year business students aged 18-19, began studies in marketing communication and content production in October 2019 in accordance to the Finnish Vocational Qualification in Business. The program highlights entrepreneurship as a method in learning new skills and competences and gives a chance to complete one accredited Finnish module in business.

As a part of the program, students establish so-called mini-companies and learn the required competences by running those companies. Entrepreneurship is an efficient learning method. In addition to acquiring competence specific to business, students learn so-called 21st century skills like problem-solving, collaboration, communication.

The program is run by two Gradia experts, Ms Johanna Ärling and Ms Elina Maukonen, both working as business teachers at Gradia. They shared their observations and experiences just after their first two-week session in China.

Johanna tells that the training program is based on teamwork and hands-on exercises.
“Students really like the idea of learning by doing and having less traditional theory lectures. In our program, they have a permission to make mistakes and to learn from them. They appreciate the possibility of working in teams and sharing and testing their own ideas with working life representatives.”

Johanna and Elina have paid attention to the differences in Finnish and Chinese VET systems. In China the system is teacher-centered whereas in Finland we emphasis student-centeredness.” Teachers are running the classes in a traditional way and students are less active during the classes than in Finland.”

The Finnish pedagogy challenges the Chinese students to learn differently “They need to be active all the time, figuring out the answers and ideas by themselves,” says Elina. “Naturally a different learning and teaching culture challenges us Finnish teachers but once students get used to collaborative, hands-on learning methods, the results are very good,” adds Johanna who is experienced in running training programs in China.

Although there are some differences, there are lot of similarities as well. “Both in Finland and China we all want our students to have a good chance to find a job after the graduation,” says Johanna.

According to Johanna and Elina, Finnish VET qualifications are well applicable for the Chinese market. Finnish qualifications are competence-based and the competences are not dependent on national boundaries. “But since Chinese are not familiar with competence-based structured qualifications we need to explain the system and contents carefully and make them easy to understand.”

Johanna and Elina say that they have learnt a lot by working as an expert overseas. “We have learnt e.g. about the Chinese business life, education and culture. But certainly, to match training with local needs, more information is still needed. More information and experiences we have the better programs we are able to provide.”

Enhancing school-company collaboration

Development of school-company collaboration is one of the national priorities in Chinese vocational education and training. Cooperation is essential in increasing the quality and attractiveness of vocational education. Finland as a forerunner in developing different kind of work-based learning models has lot to share. Therefore, Gradia has developed the teacher training program called Skills Broker to improve the match between training provision and the needs of the industry. The first Skills Broker Teacher training program was successfully piloted in China in 2018-2019.

Building grounds for school-company collaboration with Maritta

In September 2019, Gradia launched Skills Broker program for 30 teachers from Changzhou Technical Institute of Tourism and Commerce. Teachers are developing cooperation with local enterprises using the methodology of service design. The program has been aligned with a service design module from the Finnish Specialist Qualification in Product Development. Teachers who pass the program successfully will get an accredited Finnish diploma of completing part of the qualification. The program consists of intensive weeks in Changzhou, distance learning (team and development work) and competence assessment.

Ms Maritta Kinnunen, working as a lead expert in Skills Broker program shares the experiences of Johanna and Elina. “In China it seems that the education is more teacher-centered than in Finland – whereas we have an emphasis on student-centered learning and teaching. This means that the teachers in Skills Broker program are not only getting tools to develop school-company collaboration but also tools for promoting student-centered methods in their own teaching.”

In spring 2019, UNESCO-UNEVOC chose Omnia as one of the 10 piloting organizations for the new Skills for Innovation Hubs initiative. This initiative aims to co-create an innovation framework, providing new tools for innovation work for the use of TVET organizations worldwide.

During the second week of September, Omnia hosted a self-assessment week guided by UNEVOC. The week opened with a High-Level Seminar to be followed by internal stakeholder interviews. The process also included workshops where participants chose the Competence Center for Migrants as the best innovative practice of Omnia, which will be showcased to other TVET organizations.
The tools utilized in the guided self-assessment process were provided by UNEVOC. The four groups of internal stakeholders included senior management, administration, teaching staff and learners. A balanced scorecard tool with 14 indicators was used in the workshops. Each internal stakeholder group also came up a skills and ecosystem map of key external stakeholders.

The evaluation process also utilized peer review as a tool. Two representatives from TESDA Women’s Center in The Philippines participated actively in the process. It was useful to have peer reviewers from an organization, which represents a very different educational culture compared to Omnia. Our peer reviewers were very good at sharing their insights and ideas, thus helping Omnia develop further.

Omnia’s Service Manager Kati Valtonen regards it a great privilege that Omnia was invited by UNESCO-UNEVOC to join the process as a pilot organization.

”It was not an audit in a traditional sense as each participating educational organisation defined their targets for development and innovations themselves. Omnia has chosen sustainable future as its strategic framework and that was the key element in our assessments as well. All our participants were really enthusiastic, willing to discuss, share opinions and develop together”, Valtonen explains.

Tampere Adult Education Centre TAKK and partners in The Republic of Korea are hosting a three-month Global Competence Development Program in Tampere, Finland for ten Korean students and their teacher. The students are completing two modules in the Vocational Qualification in Mechanical Engineering and Production Technology. The objective of the program is to provide competent employees to the sector.

TAKK’s teacher Mr Hannu-Pekka Talvinen and his team have organized two on-the-job learning periods for the students in Finnish companies. The students have gained experience during the first period in October and are now waiting for the next period in November.

– The students have worked in companies such as Air Group and Dynaset. The tasks in the companies have included different kinds of assembly, trimming, spot welding and thin plate works.
Mr. Talvinen adds that since the period is rather short, there is no time for more demanding tasks. Language is a challenge as the students do not speak Finnish, and English skills are still developing. The situation is also new to the workplace instructors so guiding the students has been a learning path. However, with resilience, resourcefulness and perseverance things have rolled out quite well! Soon the students are beginning their second on-the-job learning period at the same workplace, and the situation is easier for them as well.

The experience has been positive for all stakeholders, the workplace trainers, students and the supervisors in the companies. The feedback from the employers to TAKK’s responsible teacher, Mr Talvinen, has been very encouraging and at times, excellent. Challenges in finding the right local train or the correct bus in the morning are now history, and the students are familiar with the study process. Teacher Talvinen believes that the students will receive more challenging tasks on the second round of learning at work in Tampere.

In August 2019, South Savo Vocational College Esedu signed the first export agreement with Russian partners for the Vocational Qualification in Information and Communications Technology. This was preceded by active work in choosing a partner for the implementation of such a large-scale project. Our partner in Moscow is College of Communications №54.

Additionally, a student survey was completed at the College of Communications №54 on the topic of Finnish Vocational Education and Training. The results of the survey proved that young people consider the Finnish program very promising and are confident that the Finnish diploma expands employment opportunities both in Russia and in other countries. In September 2019, a group of 23 people has begun studies in the Information and Communications Technology program, which has been localized to suit Russia.

This program will last for two years. In close cooperation, teachers of both colleges have developed a roadmap for the implementation of the program. The roadmap includes providing webinars, training by Esedu teachers in Moscow and trainings in Mikkeli. We believe that active cooperation between Esedu and College № 54 in Moscow will be beneficial for the development of the South Savo region as well as for the export of Finnish Professional Education in general.

Further information
Ms. Katja Akulsina, Export manager, South Savo Vocational College ”Esedu”
katja.akulsina@esedu.fi

In 2017 Omnia Education Partnerships and Finn Church Aid began an ambitious program in Uganda. The aim was to help refugees to become skillful entrepreneurs and prove that TVET has an impact. First, a selected group of Ugandan completed the Finnish Further Qualification for Entrepreneurs while they were also trained to be trainers. The program was funded by UNHCR.

Many of these trainers have now established their own companies and eight of them work for Finn Church Aid in various projects. From summer 2018 to spring 2019, the Ugandan trainers continued to train 60 participants; 40 were refugees and 20 Ugandans. The program was a success. A total of 32 participants received the Finnish Further Qualification for Entrepreneurs and 77% of the participants (44/60) are now self-employed. In addition, five graduates have already hired workforce.

One of the success stories is the story of Ruth Faraja. She is a Congolese refugee, aged 23, who left Congo due to insecurity. She trained at the Finn Church Aid Training Centre in 2015-2016 in a horticulture program. After the training, Ruth started to grow vegetables for sale. Later she enrolled for the entrepreneurship program where she gained more skills in business. With this knowledge, Ruth decided to put her savings from agribusiness into the tailoring business that is very marketable at the settlement. She bought two sewing machines and hired two FCA graduates to work for her.

She has managed to invest in two more sewing machines and now has four. She employs two FCA graduates to work for her and rents out the other two machines. This has greatly improved her income and life at large. She can now support her sick mother with medication and her other siblings with school fees and basic needs. She is also able to save up some money for herself to expand her business. She is also able to change the lives of her fellow graduates as they earn by working for her in her workshop.