Sino-Norwegian
Physical and Cultural Challenges Met Through Education - 2004
This program is set up as a collaboration agreement between the Fredskorpset
Youth, Norway and the RCNUWC. The Fredskorpset Youth Programme is based
on exchange and partnership between organisations and institutions in
Norway and the developing world.
The purpose
of the programme - Sino-Norwegian Physical and Cultural Challenges Met
Through Education - is to establish a partnership with the Ningxia University,
PRChina and the RCNUWC.
In 2004 the first program was concluded and a second collaboration agreement
was signed.The second program will be concluded in 2005. Also it was decided
that a third program will be established and implemented in 2005-06. The
total budget including all programmes is NOK 2,32 million, involving 15
students selected by the RCNUWC and 6 teachers selected by the Ningxia
University. A project co-ordinator has been appointed for the programme.
From mid-August the Leirskule got new staff, Eske Vangsgaard and Susanne Boye Flaaris Johansen. They work in shared leadership. As well, Juan Miguel Garrido Delgardo is employed three days a week in the season, while Vincent Raineau has been working as a volunteer. In 16 weeks the Leirskule have had 650 visiting kids from 31 different schools, mainly from Rogaland and Møre og Romsdal fylke.
An annual human-rights seminar is held in Bergen in conjunction with the presentation of the Rafto Prize. Our students have participated for a number of years and have profited greatly from it. When Reybeiya Kadeer was awarded the Rafto Prize in 2004, some of our students were present, and the following agreement was entered into:
The RCNUWC offers a study place to a young person from the area or milieu from which the Rafto Prize winner comes. The students from the RCNUWC will be allowed to suggest candidates for the following year’s prize, as well as participate in the nomination. The Rafto Foundation will cover any extra costs incurred when selecting a student through their network of contacts. The agreement will initially have a duration of five years. The recruitment of a student from the Uighur ethnic group in Xianjing Province is already in progress.
The
Aquaculture Project
The Aquaculture Project, which has been in operation since 1997, brings
into focus the important environmental side of RCNUWC’s activities.
Following a complaint case and a subsequent resolution, a concession was
finally obtained from the Ministry of Fisheries in October 2004.
A special syllabus between the advanced course 1 (VK1), advanced course 2 (VK2) and IB has been drafted and approved by the Director of Education. Steps have been taken to prepare a more detailed plan for an IB syllabus which focuses on an understanding of environmental responsibility and system-understanding as sustaining elements in food production connected with water and the sea. Some formalities remain unsettled with respect to operating agreements and organization.
Residential
life
How can students from about 80 different countries live so closely together
for two years, sharing their room with 4 other students and the house
with 39 other students, most from very different cultural backgrounds?
Doesn’t a setting like this automatically open up conflicts and
arguments? Yes, of course, and that’s why we bring the students
here! The purpose of living so closely together is to learn to understand
and respect other cultures, and to learn how to solve disagreements in
a constructive and respectful way. The students learn to help and support
each other regardless of their background.
In the past year we have tried to strengthen the house community, to give the students a feeling of home and an opportunity to learn to know the other house members better.At the house meetings students have had the chance to discuss issues related to their everyday life, and an opportunity to influence decisions that are made regarding this. A big topic for discussion in the spring term was the use of alcohol, and problems associated to this. The college has a strict policy on this: no alcohol is allowed on campus. The house meetings have also been used to educate students about, for example, the harassment policy and the residential charter.
