Oslo and Akershus University College (HiOA) will be starting up a new bachelor’s degree in interpreting for the public sector.
This program is one of a kind in Norwegian and European context, writes Dagbladet. The newspaper refers to several cases where there have been misinterpretions in courtrooms and examples where criminals have been interpreters.
– It is not only in the judiciary area, but also in health care and in schools where there have been problems with interpretation, says Associate Tatjana Radanovic Felberg from HiOA.
Increased migration has led to the need to increase the number of qualified interpreters. Language tests completed by Integration and Diversity (IMDi) on experienced interpreters used by the police and judiciary system show that 60 percent had large flaws in their vocabulary and that they were deemed unsuitable.
This is what the IMDi Director Libe Rieber-Mohn has previously stated.
– Interpreters have an important role in the public sector and it is essential that interpreters have high expertise in order to solve challenging tasks, says Felberg.
She says that the last ten years HiOA has had students who have taken what now will become the first module of education.
25 students have earned a place in the new bachelor’s program. The students will learn among other things, how to handle hearings and inter-departmental cooperation meetings such as child protective services.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
