Julia and Eirik study for common future

Julia Pyanchenkova (17) and Eirik Mofoss (19) are two of the 15 students studying together. “This class here in Murmansk gives me a unique strategic possibility,” says Eirik. Originally from Tromsø in northern Norway, he believes a year in Murmansk gives him an advantageous career position for the future job-market in the north.
 
The High School class is a joint project between Troms County and Murmansk Oblast.

 “I want to study information technology and entrepreneurship in Norway,” says Julia. She believes many of the students in the class will find their way to Norwegian companies working in Russia in the future. This year, the class has 10 Russian students and five Norwegian.

Troms County has been pioneering the school in Murmansk since the start up four years ago. Kent Gudmundsen is Executive Councilor for education in Troms. “These students will be key actors in Norwegian-Russian cooperation, especially here in the north,” says Gudmundsen. This week, he visited the school together with the Norwegian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Education, Research and Church Affairs.

“Seeing is better than hearing. By coming here to Murmansk, parliament members can see for themselves the importance of common education projects between Norway and Russia,” says Kent Gudmundsen. He hopes for increased funding for the school and also better general conditions for allowing Russian students to Norway. Students coming to Norway must have an economical guarantee, not always possible for Russians to provide. Today, Troms County issues such guarantees for the students coming from the class in Murmansk continuing studies at the partner High School Kongsbakken in Tromsø.

Elisabeth Aspaker is member of the Norwegian Parliament. Speaking to the students in the class-room, Aspaker said she will suggest that the Norwegian-Russian High School in Murmansk gets funding over the state budget. “This is a very good and specific result of the Barents cooperation and Norway’s High North strategy,” said Elisabeth Aspaker.

Headmaster Bjarne Berg at the High School believes students from northern Russia have several advantages that Norway demands and that can’t be found to the same extent in other European countries. “They have high level of knowledge in scientific subjects and they have experience in working in Arctic climate. It is easier to find good engineers in Russia that want to stay in northern Norway than to find them in Spain or Italy,” says Bjarne Berg.

Lack of qualified workforce is one of the mayor challenges for companies participating in the booming economy in northern Norway. Joint industrial development and increased people-to-people cooperation between Norway and Russia have boosted the latest few years. Regional and national authorities in both countries are focusing on how to expand their northern teamwork.