On the afternoon of September 21, Skellefteå Adult Education Delegation, Sweden visited Shanghai Donghai College (SDC) for discussions focusing on elderly care, preschool education and continuing education. The delegation was led by Kristiina Tikkanen, Training Manager for Specialist Nurse Assistant in Health and Social Care for the Elderly. Members included Anna Maria Niemann Björk and Susanne Karlsson, Preschool Education Childcare Attendant Teachers, Emeli Lundström and Margareta Forsberg, Health and Social Care Education Teacher, and Lillemor Larsson, Habilitation Support Specialist Teacher. Hu Zhen, Assistant to the President of Shanghai Normal University Tianhua College and Zhou Bing, accompanied the delegation. On SDC’s side, Assistant to the President Zhang Juyang, Xin Shaojie, Dean of School Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Zhang Meiqin, Dean of School of Nursing, Xu Tiemei, Dean of School of Education, Cui Hongjun, Dean of School of Continuing Education, and Liu Yichen, Foreign Secretary of International Exchange Office attended the meeting. The session was hosted by Professor Meng Zhaoshang, Director of International Exchange Office.
Zhang Juyang extended a warm welcome to the delegation and provided an overview of SDC’s history and institutional strengths, expressing hope that the visit would open the door to future cooperation. Kristiina Tikkanen thanked SDCfor the hospitality and noted that both sides share common goals — to exchange information and build connections. Hu Zhen remarked that the visit also represents a concrete initiative under the resource-sharing platform of the International Exchange Committee of Shanghai Private Education Association, and that SDC, as vice-chair institution, is well positioned to showcase best practices of Shanghai vocational education to the Swedish side.
During the roundtable discussion, both sides engaged in in-depth exchanges on elderly health care, preschool education and the relevant programs at SDC. Dean Xu Tiemei introduced the training systems of the Preschool Education and Infant Care programs and exchanged views with the Swedish delegates on segmented care for children aged 0-6. Dean Zhang Meiqin presented the Nursing Major, as well as the newly added Rehabilitation Therapy and Smart Health Elderly Care programs developed in response to population aging, including SDC’s “hospital-community-home”integrated care model. Dean Cui Hongjun introduced the School of Continuing Education and the New Technician College, which provide part-time adult degree education and short-term vocational skills training through a blended online-offline model to support lifelong learning. The delegation then toured the training centers of the Nursing and Education schools, guided by Dean Zhang Meiqin and Dean Xu Tiemei, to gain firsthand insight into SDC’s teaching and training facilities.
Skellefteå is located in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden and is one of the country’s major industrial cities. Its municipal adult education (Komvux) is open to residents aged 20 and above, offering remedial courses at the compulsory and upper-secondary levels, vocational training, and Swedish for immigrants (SFI) — available on both full-time and part-time bases. It is a key component of Sweden’s lifelong learning system. The visiting delegation members bring rich frontline teaching and training management experience across specialist elderly care, preschool childcare, and health and social care education.(Correspondent: Liu Yichen)
