College group shares entrepreneurship expertise internationally
Senior leaders at a Midlands college group have been sharing their expertise in developing entrepreneurial students to colleges in South Africa.
WCG (Warwickshire College Group) has been working with the British Council to introduce the T-Shape Entrepreneurial Framework to two colleges in South Africa.
Assistant Principal Mark Bonham, Head of International Ben Fairhurst and International Recruitment Manager Jon Vincent visited Boland College near Cape Town and Motheo College in Free State.
They presented the framework to more than 250 students, 30 staff and 12 senior leaders across the pair of colleges.
The programme has been launched in response to unemployment challenges in South Africa. The framework aims to encourage students to be more entrepreneurial and support in developing essential soft skills to improve employability after leaving college.
It is hoped that students will be inspired to set up their own small businesses and create employment opportunities.
Leaders from WCG will be staying in contact with representatives of the colleges in South Africa and reporting back to the British Council on the success of the initiative.
The college group hopes to maintain and strengthen partnerships with both Boland College and Motheo College as a result of the scheme.
Mark Bonham said: “Unemployment is a major issue currently in South Africa, particularly in rural areas, and education leaders in the country are looking at new methods to help tackle the challenge.
“Our partners at the British Council identified two colleges which were interested in learning more about how we develop programmes at WCG and we flew out to meet them.
“The T-Shape Learner is all about entrepreneurial skills, highlighting to students what they need to thrive in addition to their academic studies. It’s getting learners to think about what skills they have to be successful in work, whether that is proactivity, resilience, listening or creative thinking.
“It was well-received by students, tutors and senior leaders. Tutors could certainly see the benefits and are planning to adopt the framework as part of an add-on to the curriculum. Students were all engaged and participated, it was clear that they understood that a qualification alone isn’t enough to succeed.
“We found it really insightful as well, we learned a lot and it made us think about alternative curriculum for WCG too.”
WCG works closely with the British Council on a range of initiatives.
Two years ago, the college welcomed a delegation of 50 education decision makers from all around the world, including from South Africa, to showcase how the college works in partnership with employers to develop technical and vocational education programmes.
