Schools/colleges

A GOVERNMENT official from the Far East came to learned about further education during a recent visit to Harrow College.
Dr Hoang Thi Lan Phuong, vice director of the Vietnamese department of higher education, toured the Harrow on the Hill campus in Lowlands Road, Harrow, on November 11 and spoke to the college principal Tony Medhurst about opportunities for co-operation including staff development for teachers back in her homeland.
Mr Medhurst said: "These visits are an important part of our international engagement strategy for the college.
"Dr Phuong had only couple of days in England and we are pleased that she chose to come to Harrow College as the only further education College on her visit.
"Our ongoing work with Language Link Vietnam and their general director, Gavan Iacono, made all of this possible and we are certain that there will be ongoing development opportunities for our staff and students as a part of this venture."
On Friday (27/11), the college had a guest closer to home when Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East, Sarah Teather, who is her party's spokeswoman on housing, gave a lecture to A-level economics and humanities students.

Harrow College's plans for a new campus next door to its current site in Lowlands Road, Harrow, have hit a snag.
The further education college won permission in May 2008 for the building on the site occupied at present by Lowlands Recreation Ground.
But because the funding coming from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) will be less than originally agreed due to the credit crunch, the college's managerial team have had to scale down their scheme by losing a proposed basement level.
However, before they have been able to submit a revised application for cash to the LSC, a section of land the college had been preparing to buy as part of the redevelopment process looks to have suddenly become unavailable.
This piece of ground is part of the Transport for London-owned (TfL) car park at Harrow-on-the-Hill station which TfL has now earmarked as the site for new train crew accommodation.
A Harrow Council report on the matter revealed: "A meeting has been arranged with the Deputy Mayor of London to resolve this outstanding issue, which will then enable the college to submit its final funding application to the Learning and Skills Council for approval."

Harrow College has taken on Pat Carvalho as vice principal following the retirement of postholder Susan Harrison.

Mrs Carvalho joins the college from Brent's College of North West London (CNWL), where she worked as the head of higher education and professional courses and also led e-learning.

She said: "I think it's a vibrant college and it can truly build on its potential. I'm really pleased to be a part of what's going to be a real success story and I am looking forward to working with local partners to deliver a broad and responsive curriculum to the Harrow community and beyond."

Coincidentally, Harrow College's prinicpal Tony Medhurst - who replaced Dr Barbara Field - also came from CNWL, where he was vice prinicipal.

A college-owned company that ran computer training programmes has collapsed after "quality and performance concerns" with its Government contract.

The North West London Colleges Consortium (NWLCC) had provided award-winning Learndirect courses since 1999 from Crescent House at The College of North West London (CNWL) and later Dexion House, Empire Way, Wembley, but was put in administration late last year.

Founding colleges Harrow, Stanmore, St Dominic's Sixth Form and The College of North West London took their share of the firm's modest profits, and so the only financial blow to them is believed to be the absence of future income.

In a statement, NWLCC's board of directors said: "It is very regrettable that, after years of successful trading and despite the high quality of the company's training provision, NWLCC encountered recent difficulty in covering the operating costs associated with the delivery of its publicly funded programmes.

"Other similar companies have faced the same challenges. NWLCC staff worked hard to make sure that, wherever possible, students completed their qualifications before the closure of the company."

Stanmore College principal Jacqui Mace, who was chairwoman of the board, said the firm's downfall was in part due to a delay at government body University for Industry (UfI) over whether to renew the company's Learndirect contract.

She declined to go into more detail, saying only: "They held back on the number of centres there were, and changed the system from having a hub which managed a contract for a wide area.

"That caused quite a few problems. There was uncertainty about the future and the biggest issue was cash flow. NWLCC wasn't badly run - it was well run."

But a spokeswoman for the UfI said: "UfI terminated NWLCC's contract to deliver Learndirect in July 2008. NWLCC's contract was up for renewal in July 2008, therefore there was no delay in the timing of the decision.

"The decision was taken by UfI not to renew NWLCC's contract because of concerns about performance and the quality of the learning being delivered by the organisation. All providers are made fully aware of the performance and quality standards required before signing contracts."