Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, one of the leading educational institutions in Helsinki, will send a delegation of representatives to Rabat (Morocco) by the end of October in order to evaluate a group of students competing for a place of study in Finland.
The university delegation will be headed by Pasi Halmari, one of the managers for Global Education Services in Haaga-Helia.
The aim of this trip will be to evaluate the possible eligibility of some 20 young candidates to join the institution in spring term 2020. The evaluation will consist on personal interviews with the prospect students and written tests to measure the English language skills, basic mathematics and logical thinking.
The exams will be held on Saturday 26 October at Autio Partners LTD Coordination Center in Rabat.
Autio Partners LTD is the Finnish firm specialized in educational services responsible for the project Akademia.fi that aims to attract to Finland the best talents from North Africa and the Middle East. During the same week, several experts from Autio Partners will be also in Rabat to answer any possible questions from the candidates and their families, the company explained.
Students who pass the examinations and meet the other requirements -meaning that they get the student residence permit and pay the corresponding fees- are expected to arrive in Finland in January or February 2020.
Othmane, the first student admitted
In coincidence with the announcement of Haaga-Helia's second examination round in Rabat, this week landed in Helsinki Othmane Moutafail, the first among the students who passed the entrance exam held in May. Othmane, 24 years old and a native of Marrakesh, has been granted a place to study Tourism at Haaga-Helia's Porvoo campus.
"I am very surprised because I have met very nice and welcoming people both in Autio Partners and at the university office", he said after his first visit to the campus where he intends to study the next four and a half years.
"I come from Marrakesh, Morocco's capital of tourism, and my first impression is that Finland is the best destination to study my specialty, to develop my career and improve as a person. The whole process was very easy, you just need to meet the conditions and be enough motivated to come and enter the university. Now I am waiting for two friends of mine, who intend to come for the next term", he added.
Othmane Moutafail, at the university library. Photos: Foreigner.fi.
