Coleg Gwent are celebrating today after their exceptional
performance in delivering 40,000 learndirect courses!
To mark the occasion, Deputy Minister for Science, Innovation and
Skills, Lesley Griffiths logged onto learning to discover how the
college and online learning provider, learndirect are
working in partnership to help businesses and individuals gain essential
skills and qualifications for the 21st Century.
The visit took place in Penny & Giles Limited, manufacturers of precision industrial and aerospace components that are based in Newport. They are just one of the companies that are benefitting from the flexible, accessible training from Coleg Gwent's Business Development Unit. The company suffered an impact of the recession and applied for support through the European funded ProAct programme run by the Welsh Assembly Government. Through this programme, the company received funding to make use of the short time working by providing training to their employees.
Fiona Heaton, Coleg Gwent's learndirect Partnership Manager: "Over the past year, we have seen a large rise in the number of companies requesting flexible training in order to remain competitive during the economic downturn. E-learning via learndirect is successful due to the wide selection of courses at different levels. If a company has a learning suite then in most cases we can bring the learning to them!"
Ian White, Controller Business Unit Leader from Penny & Giles adds: "Like the majority of manufacturing companies, we were hit by the recession and had to lose skilled workers. We reached out for support and were able to bring Coleg Gwent on board to support us in delivering the largest training plan our company had even seen. We chose ECDL qualifications for a large number of staff because we want to ensure that our employees have essential business skills in readiness for the economic upturn. Everything in the factory is now computerised so it made sense to make IT a priority."
During the visit, the Deputy Minister spoke to both the management and employees at Penny & Giles Limited and was able to discover how e-learning can be integrated into the workplace as a cost effective and efficient way to train staff.
Deputy Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills, Lesley Griffiths said: "Introducing flexible e-learning into the workplace is an excellent way to give employees extra skills and motivation especially in the current climate where businesses cannot afford to release staff members to attend training sessions. I was very impressed by the flexibility of learndirect and the breadth of the courses on offer. Coleg Gwent are really meeting the needs of employers locally and, in particular, Penny & Giles have benefitted greatly from the training. If any companies face any skills shortages I urge them to contact the Welsh Assembly Government and their local college for assistance."
In particular, the Deputy Minister spoke to Sharon Harris, who enrolled on Coleg Gwent's 40,000th learndirect course when she signed up for her ECDL qualification. Sharon adds: "My learning has really boosted my confidence and the flexibility of gaining IT qualifications online through learndirect has been ideal for me. Having the learning centre on-site and the support from Coleg Gwent have been magnificent and I believe the confidence I've gained as been one of the reasons that I have recently been promoted from customer services to Production Co-ordinator."
If you are a business located in Gwent and would like to find out more then please contact the Business Development Unit on 01495 333526. For more information about learndirect courses and qualifications then visit www.learndirect.co.uk or phone 0800 101 901.
