From Argentina to South Korea and Australia. The international Pabo training in Meppel (ITEps) has already trained almost 1000 masters and teachers who have flown to primary schools all over the world. Today the 10th anniversary is celebrated with a big party.
“If we had known everything, we would never have started it.” Location manager Ton Gelmers can now say that with a big smile on his face, but reaching the milestone of 10 years was not easy. “That makes it extra special to be able to celebrate this party.” For years a group of teachers from different countries worked on an international teacher training course, which was eventually built in Meppel.
First, a group of international teachers had to be found. “We were unsure about that, will we get it to Meppel,” says Gelmers. “But it worked. We are now so good at the schools that we receive a lot of open applications. That makes it easy.”
One of the problems the new program encountered was the Dutch language. This turned out to be very difficult for the foreign students to master in a short time. “But they were assessed equally with Dutch students, so after a year we didn’t have any foreign students left,” Gelmers looks back.
“That is why we became independent in 2016. We are not an offshoot of a normal PABO, but a separate study programme. And we have removed the Dutch language as a compulsory subject. From that moment on, the registrations have exploded and we have many more students. about 500 students with 50 nationalities, 70 percent are foreign.”
The strong growth of foreign students immediately created a new problem. “Housing was certainly a challenge in the beginning,” says Gelmers. “We had no idea how that worked. We struggled with that in the beginning.”
In collaboration with the municipality and entrepreneurs, a large office building has been converted into a student complex. “Now we have no more problems,” says Gelmers. “There is a good offer and it is affordable. Meppel is even starting to become a bit of a student city. They integrate here into the community and join associations. They have part-time jobs and do voluntary work. For example, 15 of our students participated in the organization of the Grachtenfestival. Meppel brightens up.”