LÄÄNE-VIRUMAA HIGHER VOCATIONAL SCHOOL

1. Name of the educational institution : Lääne-Virumaa Kutsekõrgkool (Lääne-Virumaa Higher Vocational School) Link to the website

2. Total number of students : 1,167 (as of October 12, 2006)

3. Total area of the premises : 8,443 m2

4. Total number of lecturers : 28

5. Specialised departments (study lines) : 6

6. Total number of curricula : 10 (as of October 12, 2006)

A general characteristics of the Institution

Lääne-Virumaa Kutsekõrgkool (Lääne-Virumaa Higher Vocational School) was established in 2001 as a result of amalgamation of Mõdriku Agricultural Vocational School and Rakvere Pedagogical School

Educational activities at Mõdriku started on January 1, 1927 with schooling of competent housewives for farmers.

Lääne-Virumaa Higher Vocational School is a public state owned educational institution under supervision of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research providing students with vocational upper secondary education, applied higher education as well as in-service and re-qualification courses for adult population. 58 % of the students come from Virumaa District. The activities of the school are based on the statute, on the Law of Vocational and Applied Higher Education and meet the requirements of the Standards of Higher Education.

Transition from higher vocational curricula to curricula of applied higher education took place in 2002, when the curricula for accountancy, business administration and social work were approved and confirmed by the Ministry of Education and Research. The school has 6 study lines today, 5 of which offer applied higher education. The study lines are the following :

• Business administration

• Social work

• Accountancy

• Info technologies in business

• Trade

• Secretarial work

Institutionally we belong to institutions of vocational education, but we generally train students according to curricula of applied higher education. Accordingly, there is a discrepancy between the status of the school and that of education offered which requires solution by the Estonian state soonest possible.

MISSION

The mission of Lääne-Virumaa Higher Vocational School is to provide students with opportunities for acquisition of knowledge and practical skills and development of ethical values required for life and work, which would guarantee relevant qualifications and competitive skills in accountancy, business IT, business administration, commercial economics, social work and secretarial work for taking jobs in the mentioned fields being competitive and provided with required skills. The institution tries to meet the needs of society and labour market at organising higher-level studies for acquisition of professional, special and ongoing professional job related training.

As a state-owned educational institution, we constantly improve and develop our curricula considering the requirements of professional standards and with the aim to train competitive people and workers for society.

As a developing organisation, we pay great attention to training of all our staff and multisided professional and personality development as well as improvement of work efficiency of all our lecturers, to development of their co-operation skills according to the national standards and requirements.

As an educational institution located in historical premises of a country mansion, we try to preserve and strengthen the traditions and the specific character of the school as a manor school and a training centre in Virumaa region.

Constantly improving the material basis of the college, we guarantee the conditions for studies meeting contemporary requirements. By implementation of new methods of teaching in our everyday work, we guarantee open approaches to innovation and ongoing development of the process of studies.

We follow the principle of shared responsibility for the activities and quality of results of our work, so all members of academic staff and students can make their contribution to making Lääne-Virumaa Higher Vocational School a well-known and recognised applied higher educational institution in Republic of Estonia.

Our basic values are the following :

COMPETENCE (a competent specialist has in addition to his/her professional skills an economic way of thinking and high expectations about one’s own performance as well as that of the colleagues).

OPENNESS (openness in our organisation means transparency, visibility, flexibility and co-operation).

DEDICATION (we understand dedication as loyalty and goal-oriented approach).

INNOVATION (innovation means for us readiness to study, support to development guarantees for sustainability, making our activities attractive and fascinating).

HUMANISTIC APPROACH (with the concept humanistic approach we lay value on human values, tolerance, mutual understanding, respect, honour, trust and democracy).

Research and methodology work of the academic staff

According to priority field of development and research and requirements set by working life, themes for student’s course and diploma papers and lecturers’ research (MA papers and doctoral theses) are chosen and generally, they are integrated between one another.

The developmental fields of priority are the following :

• Development of networks (students’ places for field practice, comparison of different models of field practice, entrepreneurship and innovation, etc) ; • • Improvement in the field of entrepreneurship and competition ; • • Flexible opportunities for studies and lifelong learning ; • • Development of curricula according to the needs of the region ; • • Guarantee the quality of learning process. • External contacts and co-operation

Our school has a good functioning international network, which includes the main foreign partners and interest groups of our school. To the external interested sides belong Estonian state, local community authorities and district authorities, employers, contracted lecturers other partners of co-operation and the society at large. We have concluded several agreements for development of curricula and making different educational level cohesive, for exchange of students and lecturers in Estonia and in institutions abroad. Our school acts as a partner in several national and international joint projects financed by the European Union and participates in the work of Baltic Sea Network, which unites universities and institutions offering applied higher education of the Baltic Sea region.