Helping to raise the educational level
Based on its own needs for expertise, the Brønnøysund Register Centre is taking responsibility for improving the study programmes available in the region. The percentage of the population with higher education is lower in South Helgeland than in the rest of Nordland county. The Bachelor programme in informatics contributes to improving this statistic. The study programme is organised under the auspices of the University of Nordland and Torgar Næringshage, in close collaboration with the Brønnøysund Register Centre. Sixteen of the nineteen students in the class are employed by us. Without our participation, it would have been difficult to provide a decentralised study programme of this kind in the district.
‘The decentralised set-up is excellent. As our employer, the Brønnøysund Register Centre has taken steps to enable work to be combined with studies. We are grateful to the management of the Brønnøysund Register Centre for being understanding and flexible, which has made it is easier for us to complete our studies. This is a great way of acquiring more expertise in fields where this is particularly important. By contributing to the continuing education of people who are already in work, you increase the probability of attracting and retaining expertise over time.’
‘We are fully dependent on the Brønnøysund Register Centre's participation to be able to offer an education programme of this kind. It is also valuable in relation to the educational institutions to be able to refer to our cooperation with the Brønnøysund Register Centre,’ says Astrid Bjørkan of Torgar Næringshage. The Brønnøysund Register Centre’s initiative also makes it possible for the rest of the business community in the region to offer continuing education to their employees.
The Bachelor programme in informatics is part of the Brønnøysund Register Centre’s strategy for raising its expertise. In the Bachelor class, sixteen of the nineteen students are employed by the Brønnøysund Register Centre, and eight of them are women. During 2010, a total of NOK 343,000 was disbursed from our grant scheme, and of this amount, NOK 188,300 went to women. A total of fourteen women and eight men received grant funding. Last year, one woman and one man participated in Difi’s mentor programme for 2010/2011.
– The Brønnøysund Register Centre has played a decisive role in the establishment of this study programme in Brønnøysund, and the motivation among the students has been a decisive factor in making it a success. The study programme in Brønnøysund has been an important factor in the process of reaching an acceptable number of informatics students. A player like the Brønnøysund Register Centre is very important when it comes to developing and offering study programmes outside the established educational institutions. It knows what the region needs and its participation makes it easier to establish study programmes and implement them in practice. The best and most motivated students often come from employers such as the Brønnøysund Register Centre. Here, the students often find inspiration for practical assignments and projects, and they have a potential future employer that they are already very familiar with. We are very happy with the students: they work hard, are conscientious and display great motivation and independence in their studies, which is important in a decentralised study programme like this one.
