The schools

Rogaland Training and Education Centre consists of 32 regional resource centres for continuing education and competence development. These centres are geographically distributed from Sauda in the north of Rogaland County to Egersund in the south. Those who teach and work here have the best professional and pedagogical qualifications. If we take these resource persons and bring them into closer association with the local business community, a symbiotic relationship develops between the workplace and the education system.

This happens on different levels. We can illustrate the process with the following example: industry approaches RKK and/or the local school and presents its competence development needs. If the school cannot exactly meet these requirements through its existing courses, a training programme will be tailor made. The development costs are met by RKK. The course is conducted and industry pays a lower price which still leaves RKK with an operating profit. Part of this surplus is then returned to the schools in the form of new technical equipment, funding for continuing education and competence development for the teachers, study grants etc. Enhanced teaching competence and modern technical equipment in the school also bring increased benefit to the regular day students. In brief, we find ourselves in a ”good circle”.

Industry benefits from training provision in the local area at little cost and with no travel and hotel expenses, limited absence from work and so on. The teachers benefit from contact with business and industry and get funding to educate themselves further. We make better use of the physical school premises and upgrade technical facilities sooner than normally possible. The 32 vocational schools act as 32 local resource centres which, through the RKK model and cooperation with local industry, become 32 good circles.

The schools that form part of the RKK cooperative network have remained constant, and the most important cause of change is repeated administrative re-organisation. RKK has chosen to retain the lines of division between the schools’ subsidiary organisations, since they represent an important geographical distribution we want to keep clear.

Click on the map to the right to get a map view of the RKK schools together with links to their courses and home pages.