AMBASSADOR of Finland to the Philippines Saija Nurminen said a Finnish educational delegation has commenced exploratory talks with universities in the country, including those in Davao, to establish bilateral academic partnerships.
In a sideline interview during the Breaking Barriers: Diplomatic and Dabawenya Leaders Shaping the Future on June 24, Nurminen told reporters the academic partnership talks have started in Davao, Cebu, and Manila.
“We are really starting to figure out how to cooperate, be it, you know, visiting professors or exchange programs or what would be the most pragmatic and suitable way,” Nurminen said.
The ambassador said the scope of the potential agreements can include teacher exchanges, visiting professor tracks, and student exchange programs.
The Embassy, she said, is currently acting as a “matchmaker” to align interested Filipino institutions with compatible Finnish counterpart schools.
“So, the plan is to try to get cooperation going in all of those three places. We need to find the right partner schools so that the Filipino schools find the right partner from the Finnish schools,” she stressed.
The initiative, however, is in its preliminary stages, with officials projecting that it will take at least a year to sort feasible options and institutional commitments.
” These usually take quite a long time, but it really depends on the schools what tools they have, also to sort of commit to the partnerships and how active professors or other people they have in the schools,” she said.
The ambassador stressed that Finland has expertise in the education sector and is looking into partnering with the Philippines for wider policies and supporting labor mobility between Finland and the Philippines.
