Haldis Margrete HolstHelga Kjellaug HjetlandTheo KoritzinskyAfshan RafiqSnezana Samardzic-MarkovicLuis Filipe Castro MendesJindric FrycDeputy Members:
Oksana KovalenkoKrzysztof Ostrowski
Sissel ØstbergLaila Bokhari
Haldis Margrete Holst (Norway)
(2012-2016)
ChairDeputy General Secretary, Education International
Ms Holst graduated as a teacher in 1983, after majoring in English and Physical Education. She has worked as a teacher in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools. Ms Holst has been active in the Norwegian teachers’ union for many years. She has been a union representative at all local, regional and national levels. In 1997, Ms Holst became an elected full time regional leader in her union. In 2001, she became Vice-President of Norsk Lærerlag (NL). In 2002 she became an Executive Board member of Union of Education Norway and was Vice President from 2010 through 2012. During this period Ms Holst has also represented Norway on the European Trade Union Committee on Education, and been elected Vice President from Europe on the Executive Board of Education International.
Ms Holst is currently Deputy General Secretary of Education International which represents organisations of teachers and other education employees across the globe. It is the world’s largest federation of unions, representing thirty million education employees in about four hundred organisations in one hundred and seventy countries and territories, across the globe.
Helga Kjellaug Hjetland (Norway)
(2010-2014)
Vice ChairVice Chair of the Association for Employers in the Church of Norway and Church-related NGOs
Ms Hjetland was until 2009 President
of Union of Education Norway (UEN) and until 2012 President of the United
Nations Association of Norway. She has broad experience from the education
sector, and has worked as teacher and head teacher (1973-88), as President of
the Regional Teacher Union (1988-94) and was elected President of the National
Teacher Union in 1994, and later as President of the merged Teacher Union in
2001. She is currently employed by the Norwegian Ministry of Education to follow up the new primary and secondary teacher education.
Ms Hjetland also has
extensive experience from several national and international organizations, mostly
in the field of education and development. She is Board member of the UNICEF
committee of Norway.
Afshan Rafiq (Norway)
(2010-2014)
Judge, the Norwegian Conciliation Board, former Member of Parliament
Ms Rafiq has a cand. mag. degree in political science, sociology and criminology from the University of Oslo (1999), and is currently on leave from her Medicine studies. She has has since 2008 worked as judge at the Norwegian Conciliation Board, and she has extensive work experience from the political sphere, both as Member of Parliament, Election Adviser and Election Secretary for the Conservative Party of Norway.
Ms Rafiq has experience from several political committees, and has also published several articles and a book about the challenges and opportunities in an intercultural Norway.
Theo Koritzinsky (Norway)
(2010-2014)
Senior lecturer and researcher, Senior Centre, Oslo University College
Mr Koritzinsky holds a mag.art. degree in political science from the University of Oslo (1968). From 1993-2009, Mr Koritzinsky worked as Assistant Professor at Oslo University College, Faculty of Education and International Studies.
Mr Koritzinsky has worked as a teacher, researcher and author in the social sciences
since late 1960s. He was an Assistant Professor at the University of Oslo 1969-75, and Assistant, later Associate Professor at Sagene Teacher Training College in Oslo 1975-83. From 1985-93 he was Member of the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget), serving four years in the standing committee for foreign policy, and then four years as leader of the standing committee for education, research and culture.
Mr Koritzinsky has broad experience from several voluntary and official/public organizations and institutions, and is a former member of the Parliamentary Assembly of The Council of Europe. He is now a member of the Norwegian Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee.
Luis Filipe Castro Mendes (Portugal)
(2012-2016)
Ambassador
Permanent Representative of Portugal to the Council of Europe
Chair of the Rapporteur Group on Education, Culture, Sport, Youth and Environment of CoE Committee of Ministers’
Former Ambassador to Hungary, India and UNESCO.
He is also a poet and a writer.
Snezana Samardžić-Marković (Serbia)
(2012-2016)
Director General of Democracy, Council of Europe
In February 2012, Snežana Samardžic-Markovic resigned as Minister of Youth and Sports in Government of Serbia after her appointment as Council of Europe's Director General for Democracy. In the period 2005-2007 she was the Assistant (Deputy) Minister for Defence Policy (Ministry of Defence), responsible for strategic planning, international military cooperation and MoD Verification Centre; Co-President of Group Serbia - NATO Defence Reform.
From 2001 to 2005, she worked in the bilateral department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Deputy Director for Neighbouring Countries; Deputy Head of Mission and Adviser at the Serbian Embassy in Oslo; and Adviser at the Directorate for Europe (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
Jindřich Fryč (Czech Republic)
(2012-2016)
Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sport
Mr Fryč has a PhD from the Faculty of Education at Charles University. He has worked as a primary school teacher, and has since 1994 been employed at the Czech Republic Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. From 1996 he was the head of the Youth Department, with a particular involvement in non-formal education. He is the co-author of the National Policy on Children and Youth, and was involved in its implementation, including cooperation with NGOs and other non-profit organisations in the field. From 2004 he led the Department of International Relations, and from 2009 he held the position as Director General of the Section for International Relations EU Affairs at the Ministry. In 2012, he was appointed Deputy Minister for Education, in charge of primary, basic, secondary, special and further education.
Mr Fryč has for a long time represented the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports at the European Union level, at the Council of Europe, UNESCO and other international organisations. Since 2006 he has been member of a bureau of the Steering Committee for Education of the Council of Europe, and in 2011 he served as Vice Chair.
Deputy members
Oksana Kovalenko (Ukraine)
(2012-2016)
Leading specialist, Department of general secondary and pre-school education, Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sport of Ukraine.
Working languages: Ukrainian, Russian, English, French, Polish
Performs analytical and methodological work related to learning and teaching foreign languages in secondary schools in Ukraine, is responsible for cooperation with Council of Europe in the field of secondary education and for the development of the national framework, curricular and creation software, educational, scientific and methodological support for secondary schools.
Member of the Steering Committee in Education Council of Europe.
Full Professor, Head of Department, Faculty of Political Sciences, National School of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA)
Krzysztof Ostrowski (Poland)
(2010-2014)
Vice Rector, Pultusk Academy of Humanities, Poland
Mr Ostrowski is a sociologist and political scientist, with an MA from Warsaw University (1962), PhD from the Polish Academy of Sciences (1969), and Dr HC from the Immanuel Kant State University of Russia in Kaliningrad (2004)
Mr Ostrowski was from 2007-2010 Member of the Advisory Group on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights, Council of Europe, and is also former Chair of the Council of Europe Ad hoc Committee of Experts for the European Year of Citizenship through Education, as well as Chair of the Committee of Higher Education and Research of the Council of Europe. From 1996-2005, Mr Ostrowski worked as secretary for the Polish Council of European Education
Mr Ostrowski is active in comparative research and programs of international organizations such as United Nations, UNESCO, International Political Science Association, International Sociological Association, International Studies Association, Ford Foundation, Pugwash, Stanley Foundation, Institute for East-West Security Studies, and Yale Program for International Security and Arms Control.
Sissel Østberg (Norway)
(2010-2014)
Former Rector and Associate Professor, Oslo University College,
Ms Østberg has a mag. art. degree in History of Religions from the University of Oslo (1979) and a PhD in Education from the University of Warwick, UK (1999). She has worked as teacher trainer and researcher since 1983, and was from 2003-2007 Dean at the Faculty of Education, Oslo University College. For the period 2007-2011 she is elected Rector at Oslo University College.
Ms Østberg’s main research interests are intercultural dialogue, religious education in a multicultural context, identity work and religious practises among Muslim children and young people in Oslo, as well as transnational and transcultural ways of life.
Laila Bokhari (Norway)
(2012-2016)
Political,security and terrorism analyst. Member of the 22nd July Commission. She is also a writer.
Bokhari has studied political science and international relations in the UK and the Netherlands and has personal knowledge of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
She gained experience from the Middle East by studying Arabic and Middle East policy in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Former Board MembersBoard Members 2008-2012
Svein Lorentzen (Norway), Chair, Professor - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Gabriele Mazza (Italy), Former Director of Education and Languages, Council of Europe
Arif Mammadov (Azerbaijan), Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe
Viljana Lukas (Slovenia), Head of Office, Ministry of Education and Sport
Deputy Members 2008-2012
César Birzea (Romania), Professor, Head of Department
Faculty of Political Sciences, SNSPA
Arild Thorbjørnsen (Norway), Education Consultant
Board Members 2008-2010
Hanne Sophie Greve (Vice Chair, Norway), Justice, Gulating High Court
Inger S. Enger (Norway), School Head
Theo Koritzinsky (Norway), Assistant Professor, reappointed 2010-2014
Guido Bellati Ceccoli (San Marino), Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe
Deputy Members 2008-2010
Vera Stastna (Czech Republic), RnDr., Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport
Loveleen Rihel Brenna (Norway), President of The National Parents´ Committee
for Primary and Lower Secondary Education
Henrik Wergeland (1808 – 1845) was a romantic poet and an important historian. He was an advocate for
democracy, and an eager defender of freedom of faith and freedom of expression.
