More than 1,500 education experts gathered in Finland at a large-scale education event from 3rd to 6th of August. The 12th Convention of the International Confederation of Principals was held in Helsinki, in Finlandia Hall. As a strategic partner of the World Confederation of Principals, Finland-China Education Association (FICEA) organized for more than one hundred principals and other education experts to come from China to Finland to discuss the hot issues of today’s education. The Chinese delegation was the largest foreign delegation to join the conference.
The ICP convention, held biennially, is one of the top international events in the field of education. This year’s convention was invited by the current president of the ICP, Ari Pokka, to come to Finland to celebrate the unique and advanced Finnish basic education system. Finland became the second country in the world after Australia to have the honor to hold the ICP convention twice.
Mr. Ari Pokka kicked off the opening ceremony by stating that the secret of the high reputation of Finnish education is the emphasis put on openness and cooperation, especially in practice on the school level. The minister of Education and Culture of Finland, Ms. Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, introduced the general blueprint and overall features of Finnish education.
The ICP convention had a wide array of education experts as speakers, who had different perspectives from the theoretical and practical sides of education. The theme of the convention was “Leading Education Design”, focusing on developing new ideas for the future of education.
As a strategic partner of ICP and FICEA were among the hosts of a gala dinner in the sea fortress Suomenlinna on the evening of August 1st. The restaurant entertained more than 70 important international members of the ICP. Helsinki City hall also held a reception for the guests on August 4th, with Deputy Mayor Ms. Laura Räty welcoming the guests.
Mr. Dong Li, the Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of Finland-China Education on expressed thanks to guests who came from around the world to join the convention. Finland-China Education Association acts as a strategic partner to ICP and hopes to build a solid platform for education and culture exchange between China and Finland. The ICP convention was covered in-depth by top Chinese media outlets such as Xinhua News Agency and Guangming Daily and also the Finnish national television Yle and the Helsinki daily newspaper Helsinginki Sanomat.
The focus on global education topics such as building international exchange and cooperation platforms adds increasing importance to networking events such as the ICP conference. International dialogue is the way to achieve substantial progress in education. It is beneficial for education leaders to gain an international perspective to be able to address and resolve issues in their own countries but also to understand the opportunities and challenges faced by others. The ICP convention provides an international platform for educational exchange, cooperation and development.
