Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Kirklees College today to discuss the FE Professional Development Grant pilots which were launched today.
He visited the college’s Springfield Sixth Form Centre in Dewsbury and was led on a guided tour of the classrooms and workshops.
The Prime Minister toured the Creative Industries and Motor Vehicle departments and was shown how the state-of-the-art facilities and expert teaching at Kirklees College is helping to build the future workforce and provide young people with the vocational skills needed to support the economic recovery.
As part of his visit, the Prime Minister was shown by students how to build parts of an engine, including lapping valves and changing and refitting spark plugs in Motor Vehicle and took part in etching, screen printing and lino printing in Creative Industries.
The Prime Minister also spoke to staff and students about the importance of college’s in levelling up and providing the skills needed to boost local and regional economies.
Palvinder Singh, Principal and Chief Executive at Kirklees College said:
“We were delighted to welcome Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Kirklees College. The visit offered a valuable opportunity to showcase what vocational education has to offer and how the college is contributing towards the future of the economy.
We recognise the unique opportunity that vocational education offers and have heavily invested in providing young people in Kirklees with opportunities to enhance their work skills and career prospects.”
Mark Eastwood, MP for Dewsbury commented: “During a recent Prime Minister’s Question time, I invited Prime Minister Boris Johnson to visit Kirklees College to see the recent investment that has been made in Dewsbury. It was marvellous to see him at Kirklees College today to discuss the importance of skills and apprenticeships to drive social mobility and boost our local economy.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Kirklees College has done a brilliant job helping students thrive during the pandemic and today I met some inspiring teachers and talented students who are learning everything from mechanics to screen printing.
We need to make sure we develop their skills as we build back better so we are investing £9.5 million into training and development for further education teachers so they have the tools to pass on their skills and learning.
This will help deliver our Lifetime Skills Guarantee and ensure people can train and retrain at any stage in their lives, enabling us not just to come through this crisis, but to come back stronger and build back better.”
