Glasgow Business . 15 www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com


PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING


Regional approach is recipe for Glasgow colleges’ success T


he outstanding national success of a City of Glasgow College lecturer in BBC Two’s


MasterChef: Te Professionals series was the proverbial icing on the cake as staff and students setled into the College’s new City campus, formally launched in October by Scotland’s Deputy First Minister. Just days before his prime-time


TV victory, winner Gary Maclean, 45-year-old Senior Chef Lecturer, was supervising students preparing a banquet for college guests including members of the Glasgow Colleges’ Regional Board. Proof, if it was ever needed, that colleges are providing practical learning with business interests at heart. Margaret Cook, Chair of the


Glasgow Colleges’ Regional Board, which will eventually oversee financial allocations from core grants plus student support of around £100 million for the college sector, took up her position in February 2016 and was joined by Executive Director Robin Ashton in May. Across the three colleges – the


City of Glasgow College City and Riverside campuses; Glasgow Clyde College, with its campuses at Anniesland, Cardonald, and Langside; and Glasgow Kelvin College, with its campuses at East End, Easterhouse, West End and Springburn – there are nearly 40,000 enrolments, representing 23 per cent of all college delivery in Scotland. Each college has its own Principal with a total of nearly 3,000 lecturers and support staff employed regionally representing approximately 70 per cent of the expenditure.” “Tis is a fabulous facility


[City of Glasgow] and Riverside is amazing with its new maritime and marine education facilities but we


social issues around economic inactivity. Our specific legislative purpose is to improve social and economic well-being,” he says. Mrs Cook adds: “Education is one of the primary ways out of poverty. We have stretched targets in terms of working to widen access to the poorest areas of the city.” Mr Ashton says there has been


MasterChef The Professionals Champion 2016 – Gary Maclean, Senior Chef


Lecturer, City of Glasgow College


have two other colleges in Glasgow in Kelvin and Clyde and they play an equally valuable role. Tey don’t all have the new shining building and facilities. It is a fabulous reality for those who are coming to City’s sparkling new facilities. However, this new building is not the reality for the majority of our students across Glasgow,’’ says Mrs Cook. “As a region, we need to be


conscious about investing across the region and in all three colleges so our students, across the board, are having access to the best facilities,’’ she says. She maintains that the advantage of the Glasgow Colleges’ Regional Board is that it can get a wider picture of educational needs and allocate resources. Mr Ashton says: “From our


perspective, we are looking at the curriculum across Glasgow as a single curriculum and how well does that integrate across the colleges, with schools and university provision.’’ Glasgow’s priority is tackling


social deprivation and reducing inequality, and Mr Ashton is clear that Glasgow’s colleges have a duty to meet ever-changing educational and vocational needs, especially in community-based delivery. “Te


”We need to be conscious about investing across the region and in all three colleges”


issue of deprivation is a distinctive aspect of Glasgow. Te city has a very strong economic base yet big


a welcome raising of the profile of vocational pathways for young people, in terms of the importance of work experience and the close link between employers and the provision to make it more meaningful. Here, he says, working in partnership with the colleges and with the likes of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and its members is vital.


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