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According to UNESCO, over 70 million new teachers are needed by 2030.

 A teacher training programme developed by Soprano has been chosen as the winner of the international Worlddidac Award. The web training, ‘The Finnish Online Education Quality Development Program for Teachers’, which is a teacher in-service training programme, is based on Finnish pedagogy.

The board of judges of the Worlddidac organization, based in Switzerland, found the programme developed by Soprano pedagogically valuable and innovative. The award ceremony was held online, due to the coronavirus situation.

A Training Programme for Hundreds of Thousands of Teachers from Developing Countries

A Finnish web training programme, tailored towards the least developed nations, enables hundreds of thousands of teachers to be trained simultaneously across the nation, in short time and with very reasonable expenses. The teacher training, lasting from four to six years, costs under twenty euros per person per month. The programme is divided into three parts: first, the trainers are trained, then, the head teachers, and lastly, all teachers nationally.

The training programme meant for developing countries is equivalent to the Finnish teacher qualification, although adjusted according to each locality. To put it simply, Finnish pedagogy means a student-centred way of teaching, no matter what the subject contents are. In Finland, the teacher spends less time teaching and more time facilitating learning.

With the Latest Technology, the Programme Works without Internet Access for a Month

Due to low quality ICT connections, online training has previously been an impossible obstacle for training providers. With traditional methods, training has only been available for a restricted number of participants. With the latest technology, between online visits, Soprano’s programme works up to one month without internet access. The training, mainly online, can enable the improvement of a whole nation’s quality of teaching, which is important from the perspective of international development aid coordinators and funding bodies.

‘Education is the best form of development aid. It is easy to understand that especially teachers’ wide-ranged online training is on its own level in terms of its effectiveness. The need for training programmes like Soprano’s is immense, since UNESCO has estimated that over 70 million new teachers are needed by the year 2030,’ says Soprano’s acting CEO, Pauliina Lautanen-Nissi. She continues: ‘Education is the best work towards equality. It strengthens the position of women in society, and fights against overpopulation. It also reduces the need for emigration and, hence, reduces the risk of mass migration of peoples. Education improves the understanding of environmental protection and helps in controlling climate change. When development aid is given in the form of education, one cannot use it for corruption.’

 The Victorious Programme Was Piloted in Mozambique and Tested by External Evaluators

The pilots, implemented in collaboration with Universidade Pedagógica and the educational administration of the nation of Mozambique, yielded promising results. It made it possible to use the same, national pedagogical curriculum for the first time in Mozambique. The participants found the training to be very useful for themselves, and they received support for their work to improve the quality of teaching. According to the participants, the student-centred pedagogical content served local needs either well or even very well. The learning platform used by Soprano was also found to be easy to use.

 

For More Information:
Acting CEO Pauliina Lautanen-Nissi, +35850 3516 277, pauliina.lautanen-nissi@soprano.fi

Soprano Group – Lifelong Learning for Working Professionals

Soprano Group is the leading Nordic private training organization. In 2019, our trainings were participated in by 29111 people from 2457 organizations from 27 countries. The training programmes of the six business schools of the corporation are specialized in ICT, leadership, communication, economics, and international business. We offer training, diplomas, certificates, and vocational qualifications online and traditionally in classrooms.

In education exports, we reach for online business that can be replicated and scaled. Through the digital solutions developed by Soprano, studies, practical projects, tests, and conversations between students and trainers can be completed independently online, over the web. 

Soprano is located in seven cities in Finland, Sweden, and Russia. Through our network, we are in tens of countries, and virtually, all over the world. The company has the Made in Finland badge and uses the ISO 9001 quality standards. The stocks of Soprano Oyj are listed in Nasdaq Helsinki Oy.

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