College wins top accolade
Partnership earns award
West Lothian College has won a top award from the British Council.
The win was for Sustainable Collaboration in the International Skills Partnerships Awards.
These prestigious awards are open to all colleges involved in these projects and there are only two award categories.
West Lothian College picked up the award in the Sus t a i nable Collaboration category for their partnership with Malaysia’s Economic Planning Unit. The judging panel commended the project for strongly demonstrating a focus on ensuring lasting outcomes for learners and employers leading directly from this collaboration.
The par t n e r s h i p was designed so that partners could enhance vocational programmes and outcomes for learners through curr iculum development driven by closer collaboration with employers.
The project was funded and supported by both the British Council (UK) and the Economic Planning Unit (Malaysia), and has seen a group of eight West Lothian College students work with Mitsubishi on a project.
Fo l l owi n g initial meetings with Mitsubishi, it was determined the students could add real value to the organisation through the development of training manuals explaining production procedures and appropriate materials for the manufacturing of air-conditioning units as well as explaining the advantages and disadvantages of existing procedures.
The project culminated in a showcase in Malaysia where students from West Lothian College presented the outcomes based on their experiences taking part in the project.
Daniel Evans, head of international projects, commercial and marketing at West Lothian College, said: “We are delighted that this project has been recognised by the judging panel. Throughout the project, both partners were keen to maximise learners’ chances to learn and train in real work environments in a well-paid sector and to give them the chance to integrate to that work environment as part of their training.
“West Lothian College and Malaysia’s Economic Planning Unit are both ver y committed to enhancing pathways to careers in STEM and this project is proving to be an excellent vehicle for the participation of all concerned.
“Overall the project has been a wonderful learning experience for our students and everyone at West Lothian College as a whole.
“We have to thank everyone involved in the project for the opportunity and we hope to collaborate again in the future.”