A delegation from Ministry of Education of Guatemala visited Finland this week. The visit was coordinated by the local UNICEF Office in Guatemala, the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland, and the Embassy of Guatemala in Sweden.
The Government of Guatemala is interested in expanding cooperation with Finland in the education sector and learn from the Finnish experience on education, from day-care centres to vocational and graduate studies. At the University of Helsinki the delegation visited VITRI, the Dept. of World Cultures, and the Faculty of Educational Sciences. The delegation was interested on VITRI’s experiences on capacity building and curriculum development in relation to forest resource management, including community owned forests.
On behalf of VITRI, Maarit Kallio and Adrian Monge hosted the meeting while the Guatemala delegation included Mr. Hector Canto (Vice Minister of Quality Education), Ms. Ileana Cofino (education Specialist from UNICEF, Guatemala), H.E Mr. Francisco Gross Hernández-Kramer (Ambassador of Guatemala), Ms Heini Ihalainen (Secretary for International Relations, Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland), Ms Jenny Didrichsen (incoming Honorary Vice-Consul of Guatemala), and Teija Potenze (interpreter).