THE first Careers Academy graduation has taken place to celebrate the success of students across all of the further education colleges.
Career Academies UK is a national charity that helps raise the aspirations of 16 to 19-year-olds and bridge the gap between education and work by giving them access to real experience of the world of work.
Students follow a rigorous two-year enrichment programme alongside a further education curriculum, enabling them to boost their employability skills and progress to further study or the world of work.
Hosting the graduation event, Minister for Employment and Learning Stephen Farry said: “I commend the ongoing work of the further education colleges and Career Academies UK in providing these opportunities for students to help bridge the gap between education and work.
These work experience opportunities improve students’ employability skills and therefore improve their employment prospects.”
Sixty students attended, along with parents, families and supporters. In previous years, Career Academies students from across the UK attended the graduation ceremonies in London. The growth in the number of graduates led to the introduction of regional graduation events and this is the first Northern Ireland event.
Among those celebrating success was Jordan Hunter, a student from Northern Regional College (NRC), Ballymena, who won the ‘Sir Winfried Bischoff’ Student of the Year Award from the Career Academies UK programme. Jordan, who attends NRC’s Engineering Career Academy, became the overall UK winner at the national finals in London in May.
Meanwhile, more than 100 new jobs are to be created over five years as part of an £8m investment in the local economy. The 107 posts at financial services group, Spence & Partners will bring employment figures at the Belfast office to 145.
Invest Northern Ireland has offered Spence & Partners over £1m towards its investment, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund. Announcing the jobs Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said: “This expansion is creating highly skilled employment opportunities in the IT and actuarial sectors, and is the result of the firm’s investment in research and development to create its ground-breaking Mantle product.
“The new jobs will bring new skills to the important financial services sector and will generate £3.5m a year in salaries.“