In 2017, Malmö University, Department of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Society, and Samtse College of Education (part of the Royal University of Bhutan), Department of Mathematics and IT education began discussing opportunities for collaboration around mathematics didactics. Funding was granted from the Sida-funded Linnaeus-Palme Partnership program; a delegation from Samtse visited Sweden in January 2018 and a corresponding delegation from Malmö visited Samtse in November 2018. On the Swedish side, university lecturer and deputy department head Lena Andersson, international programme officer Johanna Boussard and professor Anna Chronaki were involved, and in Samtse above all lecturer Purna Subba Tumbapo with supported by Johan Westman from Lu-Rig Music Center.
But already in May 2018 the application for teacher and student exchange had been granted; these started in the fall of 2019 with four Bhutanese teacher students, Tenzin Tenzi, Passang Wangmo, Pema Norbu and Thinley Zangpo, going to Malmö and four Swedish teacher students, Louise Nordborg, Rebecka Schmidt, Sara Marknäs and Per Andersson, going to Samtse, to spend 5 months attending courses, as well as two university lecturers in mathematics didactics, Joakim Olofsson and Jonas Dahl on shorter study visits in Samtse SCE and two lecturers from Samtse, Purna Subba and Pema Drukpa, in Malmö. Exchanges will also continue in 2020.
The Bhutanese students in Malmö
Term start in Samtse