Refugees and the Nordic countries

In recent years, Hvaleyrarskóli has participated in a variety of projects under the Nordplus Junior programme. Nordplus is an education programme of the Nordic Council of Ministers that provides grants for cooperation within the Nordic and Baltic countries at all levels of education. This year, the school is the coordinating institution for a project concerning refugee issues and the fight against prejudice and racism. The project has attracted the attention of the Nordplus funding body as an example of a project in the spirit of their 2017-2022 education programme.

Until now, Hvaleyrarskóli has been a partner in the ambitious projects undertaken, but this year the school will be the lead organisation for a project and will manage its finances. The grant amount is 25,420 euros, or around 3,300,000 ISK. The project, which will be worked on during the school year, has the working title 'Flygtninge og Norden' or 'Refugees and the Nordic Countries', and is a partnership with Gudenaaskolen in Ry, Denmark.  The project is based on the premise that today, the Nordic countries face a major challenge regarding the discussion and policy on refugee issues, and the fight against prejudice and racism. Together, the Nordic countries are considered to have a strong voice in the international community, and their solutions and policies must be based on good cooperation between civil society and the initiatives of the citizens themselves. The members of the Nordic Council of Ministers agree that citizens' access to participation and influence in their home countries must be increased, and that a greater emphasis should be placed on opportunities and solutions rather than on solving problems. This collaborative project of the schools is therefore about society itself, a common future, equality and civic participation.

Online collaboration and school visits

Students will work on the project online and during student visits. Danish students will visit Hvaleyrarskóli at the end of September, and students from 10th MS at Hvaleyrarskóli will go to Denmark at the end of April 2017. The students will work on the project from an Icelandic, Danish and social science perspective.  They will work together on an article and a short film about the topic, which aims to enhance their communication skills, understanding of other cultures, and their ability to put themselves in other people's shoes to understand the reasons and challenges that refugees, for example, face.