Mariage with three partners
In the beginning of this month, the new building of HLO (higher laboratory education) was officially opened in Nijmegen. This event introduced the beginning of renewed cooperation between secondary- and higher laboratory education in business.
Start of cooperation
A big owl flies between the hundreds people who gathered at the square of the HLO-building and lands graciously on the arm of institute director Cees van Verseveld. The flight of this predator symbolises the flight which the laboratory education in region Arnhem-Nijmegen-Oss must take. The renewed laboratory building in Nijmegen was opened this month by the HAN, in cooperation with Rijn Ijssel en ROC de Leijgraaf.
All under one roof
The huge expansion, which means new educational rooms and modern laboratories, causes the bigger part of secondary and higher laboratory education in Arnhem-Nijmegen-Oss to come together under one roof. Before the official opening, in a full auditorium, three chairmen of the executive board described their idea of cooperation. ‘In this way, we can fit better to the demand of the market,’ Dorothé Lamers van Rijn Ijssel explains. ‘And we create a strong laboratory education in this region.’ In the 90’s the secondary and higher laboratory eduction shared a building. ‘After having been separated for a while, we will live together again. Compare it to a good mariage’, she continues. ‘But with three partners...’
Business contented
The focus will be more than ever on good contacts with the business. Representatives of PURAC and Dyadic, two businesses in this region which make a lot of use of laboratory students, explained why they support the initiative. These businesses have been getting and supporting good, motivated graduated students and trainees of laboratory education and they want to keep it like that, so it seems. On behalf of MKB-Holland, Loek Hermans put in a word. ‘Business needs good practical research, but also decent education. Because of this cooperation education and business are better adjusted to each other. You should be proud of it,’ he compliments all party concerned. ‘When I see such initiatives, I got the feeling to shout: Pass it on! Pass it on!’. Hereby.
