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Soprano signs Memorandum of Understanding with Universidade Pedagogica from Mozambique

June 19, 2018 at 09.30

Soprano Plc and JAMK University of Applied Sciences have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mozambique Universidade Pedagogica on national postgraduate education and further training of teachers in Mozambique.

The MoU is based on the teacher training of 200,000 teachers primarily online, in all Mozambique counties, to be carried out by a Mozambican-Finnish Education Quality Development Program developed by Soprano and JAMK for a duration of 5 years.

The parties will jointly develop Mozambique’s education system and the quality of teaching through Finnish pedagogy and management skills and the latest online technology to increase the number of qualified teachers and improve learning outcomes. The goal of the agreement is that future theoretical studies, projects, tests and contacts with students can be done online.

Through the development of the education system and the advanced online training, the two sides have made a significant contribution to reducing the cost of training, reducing the carbon footprint and creating a comprehensive nationwide vocational teacher training system. The resulting competence and education system will remain in Mozambique as a permanent part of the Universidade Pedagogica.

The agreement is a MoU and as such, it does not yet create financial obligations between the signed parties. Based on the MoU, the following parties will jointly investigate financial arrangements for implementing a teacher training project. It is very possible that international actors such as development banks will be involved in funding the project.

At the time of the MoU, it is still too early to assess the economic significance of the matter to Soprano Plc. However, training exports is a business area in which the Soprano Group has announced its investment and the pending project is the first significant measure in this new education business area. The potential opportunity is considerable.

CEO Arto Tenhunen: “with the help of online education, we are aiming for new markets, especially in emerging countries in Africa, Asia and South America, like Mozambique. The need for training is very concrete in Mozambique, as new promising oil and gas incentives have recently been found, and the current education system is not capable of delivering a sufficient skilled workforce. ”

Timo Juntunen, Director, Global Education Services JAMK: “With the Universidade Pedagogica, we have long-term cooperation with the development of vocational teacher education, which is needed to improve the quality of vocational training in Mozambique, and our aim with Soprano is to develop a model that is both relevant to Finnish export and development. ”

We thank the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and the local embassy for organizing high-level meetings and the services provided to be able to reach an agreement. ”

The implementation of the project requires Soprano and JAMK to invest in the design of the education system, expert services, design of educational material on the web and the production of pedagogical content.

If everything is progressing as planned, a binding agreement is expected during 2018. Soprano will announce the progress of the project.

JAMK will also publish a relevant press release. It can be found online at their website.

For more information:

Soprano Oyj, CEO Arto Tenhunen, +358400413314, arto.tenhunen@soprano.fi

JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Director, Global Education Services Timo Juntunen, +358407790763, timo.juntunen@jamk.fi

Soprano Plc – Lifelong Learning for Working Professionals

Soprano is a development company whose parent company Soprano Plc shares are listed on stock exchange maintained by Nasdaq Helsinki Oy. In the education sector, Soprano has grown by means of acquisitions to become the leading private training company in the Nordic countries. In 2017, we trained 19,000 people from 2,000 organizations in more than 50 countries.

Soprano’s growth strategy is condensed into one word: Collaboration. We build a cooperation network for education and we are working together to expand our international business. We take advantage of the opportunities created by technology, especially in emerging countries, through high-quality content and artificial intelligence learning environments. This makes it possible to make theoretical studies, practical projects, tests, and discussions between colleagues and trainers more and more completely online.

Our 1500 degree programs of the Soprano Group’s Business schools specialize in management, leadership, communication, international trade and information technology. Together with our partners we offer diplomas, certifications, vocational qualifications and university degrees. The degrees are valid in all European countries.

Soprano’s own experts serve in three countries and seven cities in Helsinki, Tampere, Jyväskylä, Oulu, Stockholm, Gothenburg and St. Petersburg, through the network in dozens of countries and virtually all over the world.

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