The President of the Region Václav Šlajs and the Deputy President for education, sport, tourism and the Pilsen 2015 Project signed a declaration of cooperation with the representatives of the partner region Franche-Comté. Its major topic is cooperation between secondary schools, including technical schools, from both regions.
The declaration of international cooperation and partnership signed today confirms the common aim of both partner regions, which includes the support of activities in the field of education, culture and sport of children and youth. An important part of the declaration is the project A Year in France in which the Pilsen Region has been participating for three years. The project enables selected students from secondary schools in the Pilsen Region to spend a year in Franche-Comté. The Pilsen Region contributes 200,000 CZK to the participating students to help cover their expenses with the stay. This year, a student of the Secondary Technical School and Secondary Vocational School of Professor Švejcar in Pilsen takes part in the project as the only one among all grammar school students.
The declaration signed by (form the left) Jean-François Chanet, Director of the office of Education in Besançon, President of the Region Václav Šlajs, Deputy President Jiří Struček
The cooperation between the Pilsen Region and Franche-Comté started as early as 2008, and ‘A Year in France’ has been its major project in the past years. “A positive response of the project has helped to expand the activities. We have included technical schools. Now we want to focus on the education of teachers,” said Deputy President Jiří Struček. “Our partnership with Franche-Comté has shown that cooperation can be successful even without a signed declaration,” he added.
“More than twenty Czech students have attended our schools, and this experience is valuable for them as well as for our students,” said Jean François Chanet, Director of the Office of Education in Besançon, explaining that thanks to the cooperation between the Pedagogical Faculty in Besançon and the Philosophical Faculty of the West-Bohemian University, twelve students were going to spend four weeks in Franche-Comté participating in an internship. “Also two Czech teachers gained a valuable experience by taking part in an internship at the schools,” he added.
“You have arrived in the days important for Pilsen as it becomes European Capital of Culture 2015,” said President of the Region Václav Šlajs. He also expressed his deepest sympathy to his French colleagues in relation to the tragic events in France.
“I definitely want to return to the Pilsen Region, which I really like, as it resembles our region,” said Vice-President for education in Franche-Comté, Sylvie Laroche, adding that the cooperation of both regions brings good results.
The representatives of the region Franche-Comté then visited Alliance Française. On Saturday, they attended the opening ceremony of European Capital of Culture 2015.
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