Pembrokeshire College are celebrating today after their
exceptional performance in delivering 10,000
learndirect courses! To mark the occasion, local AM
Nerys Evans and Mr Henry Jones-Davies, Parliamentary candidate for
Preseli Pembrokeshire logged on to learning to discover how the college
and online learning provider, learndirect are working
in partnership to help students gain essential skills and qualifications
for the 21st Century.
During the visit, Nerys spoke to students enrolled on a variety of full time courses, from IT through to those studying for the Diploma in Childcare. These students utilised learndirect courses to gain additional essential skills. Skills for Life courses such as Getting a Job, Health and Fitness and Cash Crescent are a few examples of the courses learners have completed to support them with their basic skills and financial literacy.
Nerys, who is also the Education spokesperson for Plaid Cymru and Chair of
Broadband for rural Wales group said:
“Introducing flexible e-learning into the curriculum is an excellent way to
give students extra skills, such as employability skills covered in Getting
a Job. I was very impressed by the flexibility of
learndirect and the breadth of the courses on offer. I
hope that with the rise in availability of broadband in the area that
flexible e-learning will be widely accessible within communities too. I’m a
great advocate of the internet and e-learning is another excellent benefit
to being online.”
Henry Jones-Davies, Plaid Parliamentary
candidate for Preseli Pembrokeshire added:
“It was great to hear the experiences the students had of online learning
and encouraging to see that some students were choosing to complete their
learndirect courses in their own time at home. By doing so
we were hearing that they were very enthusiastic about this form of
learning and were completing their courses at an exceptional speed.”
“learndirect is a key part of our provision. In a largely rural county but with 70% covered with broadband, learndirect offers people the opportunity to improve their skills and job prospects. So, we have been working hard to make our learndirect provision a success.” Added Dr Geoff Elliott, Head of Academic Standards and Development.
