False Bay College partners with SOTS (Stavanger Offshore Technical College), Norway

SOTS students visit the FBC Workshops

SOTS visit FBC’s Khayelitsha Campus: Kent Terje Ingebretsen (Head of SOTS Upper Secondary School), Pierre Koekemoer (FBC Programme Manager), Antoinette and Alma (SOTS students),Lungisa Mbulawa (FBC Khayelitsha Campus Head), Anna Marita (Teacher at SOTS).

The primary focus of the collaboration between our institutions is to develop and strengthen cooperative relationships between the two institutions around areas of curricular exchange/development, possible areas of student/staff exchange, visits to existing facilities and to promotion of each others' institutions.

In support of these partnership goals, False Bay College hosted two visits from SOTS this year. In February, we were happy to host a week-long visit by the school principal, Helge Torkildsen and SOTS Course Centre Director Oystein Førsvoll.

In April, the college hosted a visit by two staff members and two students:

1. Kent Terje Ingebretsen ( Head of the Upper Secondary School)
   
2. Anna Marita (teacher)
   
3. Students : Antoinette and Alma
   

Besides their visit to FBC, they also visited a social project (BEN: Bicycle Empowerment Network) which SOTS has supported.

"Our visit to False Bay College has given us many positive and interesting ideas that we can bring back to our school. I think it was interesting to see how students must pass each course module before taking the next step. The training is more practical than the Norwegian model. Education in Norway has become more theoretical in recent years. This is in many cases difficult for those that are theoretically weak. Both the students and I think the teaching method is very exciting, and we believe this gives students a good handskill expertise that can be further developed theoretically, if desired. This allows students to gain access to the working world quicker," commented Kent Terje, Head of Upper Secondary School.

"We also think that the workshops that we visited are well equipped with machines and tools. The visit at FBC's Khayelitsha Campus made a big impression on our students. Despite the difficult circumstances the students face, it was especially good to see that there competent and caring lecturers who are really committed to helping them further in life. We hope we will have the opportunity to visit Cape Town at a later date and that cooperation with the False Bay College may be developed going forward," added Kent.