Education comes to the heart of Bognor Regis

The multi-million investment to increase the skills of the town's young population will result from the signing of a historic agreement.

The memorandum of understanding between Chichester College and the University of Chichester paves the way for the college to have a presence on the university's campus off Upper Bognor Road.

College principal Dr Richard Parker said it was expected 200 students would study in the new 4-5m building due to be constructed as part of a 34m expansion of the campus. They would be taught by 10-15 tutors.

It is planned to open, subject to all the necessary permissions being obtained, in 2012.

The initial courses on offer would be based on three subjects '“ sport, music technology and culture, and business. Expansion in student numbers would take place if the courses proved to be a success.

"The courses are a way of attracting people into higher education who would not normally have thought about it," explained Dr Parker.

"We are working with the university to make going to college and university more attractive. We are doing it by using subjects not traditionally seen as academic but in which everyone has an interest. We can show people that, if you start studying them, you can take it all the way through to degree level.

"By having a presence in Bognor, it will make it easier for people in the town to attend. They would not necessarily want to come to Chichester every day.

"We will still be keeping the courses at Chichester. So, this venture is a new market for us."

The new courses in Bognor complement the Arena Skills Centre which the college opened on the Bognor Regis Community College campus in 2006. This teaches subjects such as bricklaying, electrical engineering and carpentry to 90 students at a time.

The memorandum of understanding, signed last Thursday, also takes the university on to Chichester College's Brinsbury campus near Pulborough with the same intention of showing students they can seamlessly transfer between different levels of education as they gain new skills.

Included as well is a commitment by the university and college to work jointly in the recruitment of international students and establishing mutually beneficial international links.

Dr Robin Baker, the vice-chancellor of the university, said: "The agreement will build on the already well-established working relationship between the college and university, and it gives the framework to identify and develop opportunities for closer collaboration.

"By working even more closely together, we can offer a greatly enhanced education to our communities and local employers that will benefit the local economy."

Long history

Chichester College has strong roots in Bognor which go back 60 years.The Bognor Regis Technical Institute, popularly known as the 'Building School', was opened on what is now Bognor Regis Community College campus off South Way in 1949/50.

Apprentices of building firms in Bognor, Chichester and Littlehampton would attend part-time to gain their City and Guild qualifications for subjects such as plastering and bricklaying. Its head was Sidney Hughes.

This moved to Chichester in about 1964 only to return with the Arena Skills Centre in 2006.

Bognor town councillor Ken Scut said, "It is great that the college is bringing more courses to Bognor," he said. "It has to be good for the town that its young people can learn more skills here rather than having to go to Chichester."

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