"In fact, the two countries are finalizing a draft agreement on cooperation in higher education and another on cooperation in vocational training, which will be signed shortly," said Finland's Education Minister Henna Virkkunen on Tuesday.
Virkkunen, who held talks with Minister of Education Prince Faisal bin Abdullah and Minister of Higher Education Khaled Al-Anqari, said Finland would offer its expertise to train Saudi teachers and educators.
The minister also visited other educational facilities, including the Technical and Vocation Training Corporation (TVTC). A reception hosted by Finnish Ambassador Jarno Syrjala in honor of Virkkunen was attended by several Saudi and Finnish officials, as well as businessmen.
Virkkunen said that the Finnish higher education comprises a dualistic model — universities promoting research and scientific learning and polytechnics (known also as universities of applied sciences) promoting professional higher education and applied R&D. Finland, she said, has been top in terms of the best-rated educational system.
The ranking in terms of educational attainment is also evident from the fact that their students from Finland outperform peers in 43 major nations, including the United States, Germany and Japan in mathematics, science and reading skills, she added.
The minister, accompanied by officials of the Finnish Ministry of Education and representatives of different educational institutions, said that Riyadh and Helsinki had expressed a keen interest in boosting cooperation in the education sector. To this end, she noted that a Saudi delegation, mainly composed of Saudi educators and teachers from the TVTC, visited Finland late last year.
Two major Finnish institutions, EduCluster Finland and Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, hosted the delegation, she added.
She pointed out that Finland was “interested in continuing and expanding the vocational training program with Saudi Arabia."
She also pointed out that plans were afoot to invite Saudi students to Finnish universities and polytechnics, which have courses in English. "We would like the Kingdom to send some Saudi students to Finland for higher studies," said the minister, adding that the UN Education Index lists Finland amongst the highest in the world in terms of quality of education.
Finland can also cooperate with the Kingdom in its educational expansion plan, under which about 100 new vocational training institutes are to be established within the next 10 years, she added.
She said that she had invited her Saudi counterpart Al-Anqari to visit Finland in the near future. She identified several areas, including nanotechnology, science, mathematics and IT, which Saudi students would be welcome to study in.
She pointed out that Finland had an aging population and hence its schools and institutions of higher education have capacity to admit foreign students. "We would like to admit Saudi students to these Finnish institutions," she noted.
