Scania’s training programmes set the standard for sustainable development
With the Swedish Leadership Changes the World conference being held in Stockholm today, the need for sustainable development in poorer countries was again in focus. Scania’s educational projects, including a training school in Iraq, make it a leader in the field.
Scania is continuing to demonstrate leadership in the area of sustainable development through its training initiatives in several nations.
Delegates at today’s Swedish Leadership Changes the World conference in Stockholm heard how the Scania-supported Swedish Academy for Training has helped to change the lives of students in Iraq.
Since being established in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil in 2012, the academy has trained more than 800 people in areas including vehicle mechanics, English and computer use. Scania, meanwhile, is also involved in training schools in China and Colombia and is now considering extending the training program to nations in Africa.
”Scania has a long tradition of providing training,” says Scania’s Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Relations, Erik Ljungberg. “We recognise that education is a powerful force for transforming people and companies, as well as society as a whole.”
The Swedish Leadership Changes the World conference is being held in Stockholm on the first anniversary of the formation of the Swedish Leadership for Sustainable Development network in May 2013. The network includes 20 of Sweden’s biggest companies, who are working with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and other authorities to promote sustainable development around the world.
Scania has long been proactive in providing training in developing countries and the company initiated in 2012 the Swedish Academy for Training in Iraq in cooperation with SIDA, UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) and the Kurdish organisation MOLSA (Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs).
Erik Ljungberg says the school has 13 employees and helped educate more than 800 people in 2012 and 2103. Educational areas include mechanical education, driver training, English, computer use and sales and administration.
“At the end of the first educational year more than 60 percent of students had got work or were continuing to study,” he says. “The school’s goal is for more than 30 percent of students to be women and that target was met in 2012 and 2013. Some 10 percent of students in the mechanical training area are women – a higher proportion than in several European countries.”
Meanwhile, Scania is also investing in education in China. The company’s Dragon School is a part of Guangzhou Institute of Technology and provides a three-year study programme for future service technicians. The school is the initiative of Scania China and its aim is to provide Scania’s service network in China with professional service technicians.
The Swedish Leadership Changes the World conference was examining issues including: smarter resource-use and decreased environmental impacts; better working conditions for employees of suppliers; improved workplace laws and rights; anti-corruption measures; and vocational education.
For more information, please contact Jens Schlyter, Manager Corporate Responsibility, tel. +46 703 28 37 00 or visit www.scania.com/sustainability
Scania is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. Service-related products account for a growing proportion of the company’s operations, assuring Scania customers of cost-effective transport solutions and maximum uptime Scania also offers financial services. Employing some 41,000 people, the company operates in about 100 countries. Research and development activities are concentrated in Sweden, while production takes place in Europe and South America, with facilities for global interchange of both components and complete vehicles. In 2013, net sales totalled SEK 86.8 billion and net income amounted to SEK 6.2 billion. Scania press releases are available on www.scania.com
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