Latest news with #FurtherEducation
Glasgow Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Graeme Dey visits Glasgow Kelvin College, praises impact
Graeme Dey, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education, and Veterans, visited Glasgow Kelvin College's Springburn Campus on Wednesday, August 13. He commended the college's contribution to the community by providing young people with a wide range of career opportunities. Graeme Day MSP with Principal & CEO Joanna Campbell (Image: Supplied) Mr Dey said: "Glasgow Kelvin College is a great example of an institution helping young people in the communities it serves to develop and enhance their skills for the future needs of Scotland's economy. "There are many options open to building a successful career, regardless of circumstances and background, and colleges like Kelvin are central to that." Read more: Clydebank attraction announces temporary closure - here's why The college supports 14,000 students, 41% of whom live in the 10% most deprived areas in Scotland. It collaborates with 300 industry partners to help thousands of people into positive career destinations each year. The minister was shown around the Building Services Engineering workshop and the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration workshop - the latter is said to be Scotland's only college apprenticeship training programme in the area. Graeme Day MSP with apprentice students Kyle Davidson & Darren Wheeler(right) in Building Services Engineering Workshop (Image: Supplied) He also interacted with students and alumni, including five current apprentices and Aiden McGhee, an alumnus who now works at ACTS Engineering Consultancy and chairs the Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers' (CIBSE) Young Engineers Network. He also met with the college's incoming student president, Jon Craig, to discuss issues concerning students and how the student association is helping to tackle poverty and support students in financial difficulty. Joanna Campbell, the college principal, said: "We are passionate about providing opportunity and opening up entry routes into college, with progression onto higher qualifications and job opportunities for young people. "Showing Mr Dey the impact of these programmes first hand was an absolute privilege, and I'm particularly pleased the Minister had the opportunity to hear from some of our current and former students about the positive impact Kelvin has had on their lives."
IOL News
25-07-2025
- IOL News
Unemployed teacher in legal battle with education department after missing deadline for permanent job application
A teacher was engaged in a legal battle with education department after she was not hired permanently. An unemployed teacher who worked on contract took the Western Cape Department of Education Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) after she was not hired when her contract ended. Sibahle Qhiphu was employed as an educator at Wallasdene Secondary School in Cape Town. When her contract ended in December 2024, she referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the ELRC. She explained that her dispute was about non-conversion to a permanent position, because she applied to be converted to permanent, but she was not converted and now she was unemployed. She had the necessary qualification required for the position. She has a Grade 12 certificate, a National Diploma in Adult Basic Education and Training. The position in question was for a teacher in English First Additional Language and Tourism in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase and she was teaching those subjects when she was on contract. Explaining her ordeal, Qiphu said she was on lunch when she was informed by the school secretary, Zandile Faye, that she had to quickly certify her documents as the circuit manager would be at the school to sign the applications. She got a lift from her colleague to get her documents certified but when she returned to the school at around 4PM, in order to hand in her documents, everybody at the office already left. She went home with the documents and submitted them on Tuesday November 19, 2024, four days later. She did not receive any feedback after submitting her application.
BBC News
08-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Further education lecturer pay offer 'falls short', says union
A pay offer of 5.5% for Further education (FE) lecturers "falls short" of pay parity with is according to the University and College Union (UCU), one of the main unions representing FE lecturers in Northern have been offered a 5.5% rise for 2024/25 and a 3% rise in 2025/ Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said the offer provided "a further step towards parity with teachers".In a statement she said that FE was "a critical part of our economic infrastructure". "The expertise of our further education lecturers is key to supporting people achieve their potential and providing the skills needed for our economy," she statement said that it was hoped the offer would be the two main unions in FE already have a mandate from their members to take strike action over UCU and NASUWT members have previously voted in favour of strike action and action short of the UCU's Northern Ireland official Katharine Clarke said full pay parity with teachers had not been delivered. A potential strike by teachers was averted in April after unions accepted a revised pay offer of 5.5% for 2024/25."Even with this current offer, lecturer pay will remain £2,200 lower per annum than schoolteachers," Ms Clarke told BBC News NI."The offer made by the employers falls short on the promise of achieving pay parity with schoolteachers, a commitment made by the previous Minister for the Economy, Conor Murphy.""The UCU is pleased the employers have reaffirmed their desire to achieving pay parity, but the reality is unless Minister Archibald allocates budgets to colleges enabling them to plug the education pay gap, lecturer salaries will continue to lag behind that of schoolteachers and university lecturers.""Negotiations are ongoing but UCU is clear that the employers' hands have been tied, and the offer represents broken promises at ministerial level."There are six FE colleges in Northern Ireland with more than 63,000 teach a large range of vocational and academic subjects to a wide variety of students, and are a major part of the education system.
