Local MSP, Graham Simpson, visited New College Lanarkshire (NCL) at their campus in Motherwell to hear from staff and students about the impressive work that’s happening there.
He met with college principal Christopher Moore, deputy principal Ann Baxter and college registrar Elaine Turkington to discuss the college’s achievements and future aspirations.
New College Lanarkshire, which remains Scotland’s oldest college, has around 9000 full-time and 16,000 part-time students who are taught across six campuses.
Staff raised the college’s various philanthropy schemes – including free breakfast for over 400 students starting in August to support learning without hunger – and educational initiatives like the ‘Access and Progressions’ course which has helped more than 800 students improve their numeracy and literacy skills.
Mr Simpson was given a tour of the campus where he saw state of the art facilities like NCL’s ‘Smart Hub’ – which is home to a robotics and automation training facility – before meeting students Rachael Paterson and Heather Laird.
The two photography students were pleased to showcase the images from their portfolio which had been purchased by Principal Christopher Moore and will be displayed at the college.
He also discussed NCL’s plans for the future. With a recent department restructure proving successful and the number of applicants for next year rising, staff shared plans to open a new campus in Cumbernauld and refurbish the construction department to include more workshops.
Similarly, he heard about the various new courses on offer at the college – including Animal Care, Dental Hygiene and Accountancy.
Central Scotland MSP, Graham Simpson said: “It was great to meet the team at New College Lanarkshire last week for an in-depth chat.
“As always, I was struck by how impressive the facilities were on-site and the huge variety of courses on offer.
“I was particularly pleased to meet students Racheal and Heather who kindly showed me some photos from their portfolio which have been selected to be displayed on-site.
“No college is immune to the current pressures but Christopher and the rest of the staff are doing a great job at rising above these”.
