4 June 2013

Spanish Ministry to visit Dundee to sign education agreement

Photo opportunity: 2pm on Wednesday, 5th June in the Dean's Office, School of Humanities, Tower Building.

Representatives of the Spanish Ministry of Education will tomorrow visit the University of Dundee to sign a collaboration agreement that strengthens existing links between the institution and Spain.

Liborio López García, the current Spanish Counsellor of Education in London, and Joaquín Moreno Artesero, an Edinburgh-based Education Adviser to Spain, will meet Professor David Finkelstein, Dean of the School of Humanities, to sign a new agreement of collaboration.

This will see the Ministry promote the University's programmes in Spain and throughout the UK, as well as supporting public engagement activities and existing Spanish language classes, workshops and other services.

It is hoped that the relationship will see an increasing number of exceptional Spanish students choosing to study in Dundee, while also promoting the range of postgraduate, exchange and career opportunities in Spain to Dundee students.

One of the topics of discussion will be the fact Dundee will next year host The Spanish Workshops in Scotland for the second time. This annual event, which features intensive sessions concerning language and culture in Spanish-speaking countries, is a major continuous professional development initiative.

Mayra Crowe, Spanish coordinator in the School of Humanities, said, "The Spanish Ministry of Education have chosen to partner with Dundee for the quality of work we do. This agreement will help us to reach our target public for distance learning language courses by benefiting from the invaluable profile the Consejería will give us.

"We were privileged to host the Spanish Workshops in Scotland last year, and the event was very well attended. This event, along with our other programmes, is aligned to promote current Scottish Government language policies."

More than 800 students have taken part in Dundee's various languages programmes over the past academic year. Whilst many did this for personal or academic reasons, others undertook further study to enhance their career development.

This includes a cohort on the Graduate Diploma in Spanish by Distance Learning course. The Diploma students are high school teachers who need to complete the diploma in order to receive accreditation to teach Spanish in Scottish schools.

More information on the suite of language courses available at Dundee can be found by visiting www.dundee.ac.uk/languages or emailing humanities@dundee.ac.uk.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277