McInnes Praises Banff & Buchan College in Parliament (Alison McInnes)

Alison McInnes <info@alisonmcinnes.co.uk>

McInnes Praises Banff & Buchan College in Parliament

October 5, 2009 12:00 AM

During a debate in Parliament on Thursday, local MSP Alison McInnes, praised the work of Banff & Buchan College throughout the region.

Mrs McInnes said:

"I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to see for myself the work done in local colleges, and I can tell members that I have never been less than hugely impressed.

"An example of the excellent work that is going on is the partnership that has been set up between Banff and Buchan College, a local business and a local school, which has the aim of increasing the number of young women who take up engineering. The programme, which was set up in response to concern about the number of suitably qualified women being recruited to engineering jobs, provides female role models from business to mentor an all-girls group and sponsors visits to various industrial sites. As well as encouraging more girls to consider pursuing a career in engineering, the scheme certainly provides the girls who participate with a highly desirable and transferable skill set, regardless of the path that they take.

"The fact that Banff and Buchan College has a number of permanent outreach centres makes it truly local. It has demonstrated repeatedly that it is flexible, responsive to changing demand and innovative, despite not always getting its fair share of resources."

Mrs McInnes went on to criticise the Scottish government over how it allocated funding to colleges, claiming that there was a central belt bias

"I have no doubt that colleges have a key role to play in tackling the impact of the recession and preparing our young people for the economic recovery to come. It is therefore essential that young people in the north-east are not further disadvantaged by any future unfair funding allocations."