German students complete exchange program at UFPB

Five students from the University of Vechta (Germany), from the areas of Economics, Social Sciences, Administration and Gerontology, return to their country of origin after six months of exchange at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), carried out through an agreement between the two institutions . The information is from professor Orlando Vilar, dean of Extension at UFPB, who gathered the group on Monday (9).

Within the cooperation program, six students from UFPB will travel this Friday (13), to Germany: Agnes Maria Freitas Amaral, Clara Almeida Macedo, Elidiane Queiroz da Silva, Maria Lígia Coco Terra, Tainã Costa Fernandes and Yasmin Tito Martins.

German students participated in disciplines, extension projects and did internships. They are: Anja Selena Rostek (Social Services Administration), Jana Biedermann (Gerontology), Katharina Wester, Levke Selma Seefeld and Martha Röske, the last three from the Economics and Ethics course.

Professor Orlando Vilar highlights the importance of exchanging with other countries through the exchange of experiences and the students' experience with another educational system, in addition to a different culture and language. “The University of Vechta has a history of exchanging with us,” he says.

The Dean of Extension and Community Affairs (Prac) supported the offer of a German language course, says professor Maria Aparecida Pereira, from the Education Center.

“Last year, Professor Stephan Sandkoertter, coordinator of this program at Vechta, came to us to inform us that there was a great difficulty in taking students to Vechta because they did not speak German”.

With the support of Prac and the UFPB Agency for International Cooperation (ACI / UFPB), it was possible to open classes. “Within the scope of the agreement, five students go to Germany every year and five come from Germany here, financed by the program. Prac has been working in partnership with the UFPB Agency for International Cooperation, to better serve students”, says the professor.

Gerontology student Jana Biedermann says that the collaboration between the University of Vechta and UFPB allowed her to get to know the Brazilian health area. “I participated in Nursing and Social Sciences classes. It was very interesting for me to know the health system of a different country because I study Gerontology ”.

The Economics and Ethics student, Levke Selma Seefeld, also highlights the contact with Brazilian culture and the diversification of contents. According to the Prac Extension advisor, professor Emmanuel Falcão, the choice of the students' extension projects was planned in a way that suited their cultural reality, as well as their intellectual and interaction skills. The partnership between the two universities has existed since 2004.

This was originally published by Ascom / UFPB and can be accessed by clicking here.