The members of OSOW meets every two years at the school of the current President.

At the meetings every school gives a report what have happend the last two years, what is new and plans for the future.

Together we then decides what will be the goal for OSOW the next two years.

If you would like to join OSOW and/or participate at the next meeting in 2015, please contact the current President. (imprints)

Below you will find a description of what the meeting in Hamburg 2013 was all about!

MEMO OSOW meeting 2013

The European network
Open Schools of Watchmaking
http://www.osow.eu
MEMO
Hamburg 19. to 22.09.2013

Participants:
Jürgen Albrecht, G16
Jörg Zehle, G16
Ralf Holsten, G16
Rainer Lüers, G16
Rainer Bohnsack, G16
Thomas Ettwein, FTS
Hans Jauch, FTS
Lis Hansen, ZBC
Paul Børglum, ZBC
Klaus Helstrand, ZBC
Sari Rantala, IJKK
Simo Ylitalo, Kelloseppäkoulu
Per-Erik Bylund, Liljaskolan
Franticek Cihal, SSOS
Eva Lemberková, SSOS
Dagmar Kotliková, SSOS
Ulrich Müller, Max-Born-Beruskolleg
Udo Friedrich, Max-Born-Berufskolleg
Katja König, Lange Uhren GmbH

Agenda:

• Official Welcome – Welcome by Jürgen Albrecht, principal of G16
• News from participating institutions

Recklinghausen/ Germany:

• New Participant
• A school with a lot of other profession educations
• Started with watchmaker education this year in August

Vännäs/ Sweden:

• Number of students is going down
• The total number of students is 5, but after Christmas there will be only 3 watchmaker students
• Still Per-Erik is teaching watchmaking
• There is still a lack of watchmakers in Sweden

Jihlava/ CR:

• New Participant
• A school with a lot of other educations
• Watchmaker education is a part of the school education
• The number of watchmaker students are ~20 (7 per year)
• Students get financial support from the government
• They have a lot of experience with exchanges

Schwenningen/ Germany:

• There is a new principal – Thomas Ettwein – since this year
• The number of watchmaker students are 16 per year
• At the moment there is also a course for master degree with 12 students

Lange/ Germany:

• There are 4 teachers for practical watchmaker training
• The number of watchmaker students has been increased by 37
• It is planned for the next two years to have 20 students per year

Ringsted/ Denmark:

• a new teacher is started and is at the meeting
• the watchmaker students they are training, gets no more support from the government
• the number of students is increasing
• but the problem is, the most of the students have no contract with watchmakers and so they are still the whole time at school; and this is not a good option for the future and the quality

IJKK/ Finland:

• There has been some major changes in student selection process and the students are now younger with more severe difficulties than before.
• Due to changes in the staff it is yet uncertain who might assist with the European funding channels if arranging some exchange project etc.
• Watchmaking teaching staff has remained the same, also the number of the students.

Espoo/ Finland:

• The biggest number of applications this year in 16 years.
• Doing 2 days assessment tests for choosing the right students
• Everything is going well
• There are still watchmaker students, micro mechanics and the courses for shop assistants

Hamburg/ Germany:

• The watchmaker department is still under construction, and the work a little bit in cramped conditions
• The new rooms will probably open after the autumn holidays
• The total number of watchmaker students are 70

• OSOW issues und projects

ETA issues
At the last meeting we discussed about to send a letter because of the new reduction policy for the watchmaker schools.
The letters from every school are written and nobody gets an answer.
Simo told us, they get no more reduction from ETA, but they can buy different school kits/ movement kits. Per-Erik told that it’s complicated and expensive to get movements from ETA.
Järvenpää sent out a big statement about the nature of the school as ETA asked in 2012 but there has been no reply, nor any letter. Therefore Järvenpää Training Centre has no access to ETA online shop at all at the moment.  The Finnish colleagues then bought some Chinese movements. They are cheaper but the quality is different and you cannot buy spare parts. So you have to mix up the Chinese movement and the Swiss parts.
After the letter, Klaus have to fill out a form to get again the reduction.
So he is now to get it again. For him it’s now easy to order movements and spare parts from ETA.
ETA wants to know: which school, who is the owner of the school, how many students are there and the rule: no movement for commercial purposes.
At the German schools the cooperation with ETA is now better. Because the German watchmaker association has done a good work at the last 12 months.
For the Scandinavian schools should be the next step: Ask the association of the state for more support at the work between schools and ETA. Have a look which other opportunities they have?
E.g.: to buy movements or complete watches at wholesalers (Flume, Beco, Boley).

ToDo:

• Please send some addresses from wholesalers or others, where we can also buy movements/ watches from ETA.
• Ulrich Müller gets in contact with the company Selitta.
• Hans Jauch will get in contact with the company Ronda for electrical movements. –Possibility to make a Ronda movement course for the OSOW member

Picture Dictionary
The picture dictionary isn’t completed at moment.
Pictures were collected and sent to all from Jörg. The Finnish, English and German Translation is finished. The Danish and Swedish translation is missing.
Per-Erik had some problems to bring the dictionary on the Homepage, because he had no support for it.
But we try it again or continue.

ToDo:

• Jörg will collect more tool pictures and send the first pictures and the new pictures to the OSOW members.
• All members take the pictures and make the translation with the students!
• Per-Erik will still responsible for the technical part (Homepage).

• Future Plans

EU funding for OSOW student exchange is an idea for make a project between different schools at the same time.
Czech Republic have a good experience with the Leonardo project Funding.
Also Udo and he will find out how its work, if it’s possible to make a common application for the year 2015. And which task will be the best?

Circle student exchange could be a possibility for the future or for 2014?
Some of the members are interested with small groups.
Interested schools: ZBC; G16; Kelloseppäkoulu; Max-Born-Berufskolleg and FTS
Find a time corridor and a subject to do this.

OSOW Homepage:

• We decided to send more and of course from

last exchanges reports to post it on the Homepage.
Please send it to Per-Erik! The students should be include in   
make the reports.

• All members could and will send offers, for possible student exchanges which could take place in their schools, to Per-Erik (to be posted on the Homepage) Include the time corridor and duration, the number of students and the subject

• Miscellaneous

Hamburg is looking for a good steel material, because they have problems with hardness.
Please send addresses to Jörg from retailers!
Per-Erik will contact the company Sandvik from Sweden.

Ringsted has a project with a pendulum clock, but now they have problems to get movements and spare parts from Kieninger. They are asking for ideas.
Per- Erik will send an address from a Swedish clock company.

• Election of the next chairman

Katja König from Lange Uhren GmbH, Glashütte is elected as president for the period until the next meeting.