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Gateway2Knowledge is part of the Gateway Knowledge
Alliance, the organisation dedicated to building skills
that will help people who live in Kent Thames Gateway
to make the most of the opportunities that are going
to be created in the area in the twenty first century.
We are an alliance of major education providers in
the area - colleges, schools and universities - established
to improve co-ordination and to ensure that the rapidly
changing learning and skills needs of the Gateway are
met.
The Thames Gateway is Europe’s largest regeneration
initiative. It offers a huge range of opportunities
to people in North Kent. Unless local people have the
knowledge and skills, they will not benefit from the
new developments.
At
present Thames Gateway has a serious skills gap:
• 30% of the population have no formal qualifications
- the overall figure for the South East is 23%
• More than 50% of the population do not have
a level 2 qualification
• Less than 20% of the population go on to university
against a national target of 50%
• In the Kent Thames Gateway, 15 000 jobs are
created annually. 60% require intermediate or higher
skills
• 1 in 3 employers report hard to fill vacancies.
Half of theses were put down to a lack of candidates
with the right skills.
The Gateway
Knowledge Alliance has been established by all of the
major Education providers in North Kent – colleges,
schools and universities. Funding comes from the ODPM,
SEEDA and the LSC Kent and Medway.
Our Key Aims:
• To address the learning and skills needs of
the Thames Gateway in Kent
• To work with delivery boards and local councils
to link learning and skills developments to the wider
regeneration agenda
• To increase participation and achievement in
learning
• To promote joint working between educational
bodies across sectors (schools, colleges and higher
education institutions)
The GKA board
is chaired by Allan Chisholm who led the Bluewater development
and is also the Chair of the LSC Kent and Medway. The
GKA’s Project Director is Vernon Hull who has
extensive experience in both learning and skills and
economic development. |
about
us