QIESA:  
Quality In Education –
Systematic Advice


Since the school year 1992-1993 the three Nordic upper secondary schools Tiirismaan Lukio of Lahti, Finland, Rudbeckianska Gymnasiet in Västerås, Sweden and Fagerlia videregående skole in Ålesund, Norway  have cooperated and had exchanges every second  year with connected projects addressing different themes. We have focused on Nordic identity, history, culture, architecture organization of leisure time and activities. Following mobilities will be held within this Nordplus ARS Junior program (ID 8525):

May 2009: Exchange Fagerlia –Tiirismaan, Sept. 2009 Revisit: Tiirismaan –Fagerlia.             
March/April : 2010 Fagerlia – Rudbeckianska, May 2010 Rudbeckianska – Fagerlia.               
March/April 2011: Fagerlia –Tiirismaan, September 2011 Tiirismaan –Fagerlia.

School systems and school structure in the three Nordic Countries tend to vary a lot. In all countries, however, the pupils are given the choice between several different program areas when entering the upper secondary school system, i.e. gymnasiums or vocational schools.

Systematic advice and guidance of both lower- and upper secondary pupils is also carried out differently in the many counties within one separate country, from one municipality to another and also at each different school.  A closer look at similarities and differences is therefore advisable. Consequently we would like to focus on as many aspects as possible of counseling and guidance regarding education and career planning. We would also like to compare school and county level in both Finland, Sweden and Norway.  This will be examined in various projects and when visiting education fairs throughout the school year.

The results of our project work where interviews of pupils, teachers and counselors are held will be available at our joint site: qiesa.com. We are also planning a conclusive summary at the end of the project period in Nordplus ARS Junior program.

Furthermore the reports after each exchange listed above will be made available at this site. The themes will to some extent be the same as indicated in the project title,  but may also include additional  related topics.

Fagerlia videregående skole, 10. February  2009

Ivar Karsten Lerstad
Head of department  of science
Responsible for Nordic exchanges

Rune Olav Nilsen
M.A., responsible for
exchanges outside the Nordic Countries