Security service students from Finland training at SPSCH Pardubice

Studying: Vocational degree of Safety and Security, Tampere, Finland

Duration of mobility: 02.11-17.11.2024, 15 days.

Group of 2 students taking part in the Erasmus+ funded training mobility.

My name is Mikael Kinnunen.

I was interested to go to a student exchange programme as soon as I heard it was possible, in fall 2023. Without any hesitation I signed up for the programme.

My main goal was to gain knowledge about security field in other European country.

Some basic arrangements:

We rented a really nice apartment via booking.com, the cost was 485 euros per person for 15 days living. 

Location was in a quiet and good neighbourhood. Public transport was not easy to use from that location, but we were only 3 kilometers away from the school, so we could walk to school really easily.

Pricing of the food in grocery stores felt like it was slightly lower compared to Finnish prices. Alcohol beverages were significantly cheaper than in Finland, same thing applied to restaurants.

Regarding the language we had some challenges because we can not understand Czech almost at all, and I was suprised that people in the Czech Republic spoke so little English.

Fortunately in school in Pardubice, students and some teachers spoke really well English.

And last I have a huge thanks to all teachers and students in Pardubice. Me and Matias both felt, and we told this also in Finland, that we were very much welcome to Pardubice school and all people were very kind to us. This was something really special to us, that we are not used to in Finland, because of cultural differences.

Next daily reports:

4.11

First day at school. We went through school premises, and tried to figure out where every different class was located. Students and teachers showed us presentation from school. Next we shot with co2 pistols. Enjoyed meals offered by school. We followed 4th graders' self-defence class.

5.11

First thing in the morning we learned how to take fingerprints, other students took fingerprints from us. Next whole school participated in evacuation training. Then we showed our presentation to students and teachers. Then we got to see how spectrometry works (Raman, X-ray) and basic information of Chromatography. The rest of the day was shooting training with laser pistol.




6.11

At first we had a self-defence class, focusing on Judo and kickboxing and we tried to learn how to combat rolls. Next we disassembled and assembled all kinds of pistols. After that we were training shooting with laser pistols. The rest of the day we got trained on emergency first aid methods.

Students also showed us a video that was useful if you are visiting Pardubice (follow the link below).

7.11

We spent a day in Prague. We went to the Police museum and Prague castle and that one really old Bar. Also we got to see the old town square and Charles University.

We were accompanyed by couple of the students from SPSCH Pardubice.

8.11

In the morning we studied how to take scent marks from the crime scene. After that we had a self-defence class focusing on Judo and different kinds of techniques on how to stop a knife attack.

11.11

During the self-defence training in morning we learn some techniques with Kubotan and how to use a phone for self-defence. After that we trained fingerprint taking, focusing on how to take fingerprints from water submerged items and paper, which was interesting because we used super glue and iodine in a closed pot. After that we were observing 4th graders' training on how to secure vehicles under the threat of IED:s (improvised explosive devices). The rest of the day we trained abseiling from the fire rescue tower.




12.11

The whole day we were in the first aid classes. Training in the morning and afternoon we observed a first aid competition.

13.11

At moring class we filled a personal identification documents. After that we took a theory class of VZ58 assault rifle. After that we trained shooting with a laser pistol. The rest of the day we were in the first aid classes. There we measured our feet, and gladly discovered that they are in healthy condition. We also participated in a car accident first aid training.




14.11

At morning class we did crime scene photography, mostly from bullets and cartridges. Teacher was happy with the photos. After that we had a self-defence class, focusing on Judo. And we had a 2 minute wrestling match against other students. I lost the match in 50 seconds.




15.11

Evaluation, picture of us and our guide students and teachers in front of a school building. And departure.




Close up:

Student exchange programme exceeded my expectations. I enjoyed my time in Czech Republic very much. I would go back in any time.

Biggest thing to me was my first contact to Judo and kickboxing. I am planning to continue training this also in my homeland.

For those students who in the future are going to Czech Republic, I would suggest to learn some basic skills in Czech language. That would help a lot in everyday life.

Otherwise everyday living felt much like in Finland, no reason to stress about that.

That is all, thank you!

-Mikael

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.