NI: Further education gets €14.3m boost

Nearly £10m (€14.7m) is being invested in further education in north Down, it was announced today.

The investment in the North Down and Ards Institute is designed specifically to benefit the small and medium-sized business sector.

The investment package of £9.7m (€14.3m) will provide modern teaching facilities in Engineering and Creative Technologies at the Bangor campus and a Construction Craft Centre at Newtownards.

Angela Smith, Minister for Employment and Learning, said: “The new facilities will enable the institute to provide technology transfer support to the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, a pre-incubation infrastructure to support business start-up and a performance arena for music and multimedia training and consultancy,

“There will also be provision for professional and technical training in the construction craft occupations.”

Construction of the new facilities has been scheduled to begin in February, said the minister, and should be ready for use in May 2008.

When completed it will contribute to the combined resources and technical expertise available to the new, recently announced, area-based college comprising east Down, Lisburn and north Down and Ards.

East Down and Lisburn are also well advanced with plans to secure new colleges across all their campuses.

Ms Smith, highlighting the importance of the further education sector to the economy, said: “We need far more rigorous re-direction of public spending on innovation rather than protection, in skills and education, rather than subsidising economic inactivity and in infrastructure rather than public sector bureaucracy.

“The £9.7m (€14.3m) funding committed today provides further confirmation of the government’s commitment to the sector and the young people and adults using its facilities,” said the minister.