City News

Birmingham International Airport (BIA) has received praise from Alan Tuckett OBE, for the educational and skills development courses it provides for employees.
 
Alan Tuckett OBE is Director of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education and a member of the Adult Learning Committee of the Learning and Skills Council. He has applauded BIA for its Skills for Life programme which, with the help of tutors from Solihull College, enables employees to undertake a variety of programmes to improve their skills.
 
Birmingham Airport has run its Skills for Life programme for 2 years and has a good history of developing employee skills in a wide range of subjects including British Sign Language.
 
During this academic year (2006-2007) 178 members of staff from all the companies across the Airport, including the Fire Service, NCP and OCS, have enrolled on BIA programmes; so far this year more than 90 employees have received learner achievements, with almost 15% having gained a nationally recognised qualification.
 
Alan Tuckett is a keynote speaker on adult education; in 1992 he started Adult Learners’ Week in the UK and has since supported its growth in almost 40 countries. He is a member of the Government’s Skills Alliance, a Special Professor in Continuing Education at the University of Nottingham and an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Labour Market Studies and the Institute of Lifelong Learning at Leicester University.
 
Commenting on the Airport’s Skills for Life programme Alan said, “I’m very impressed with the range of subjects available to the Airport’s employees and the support the Airport gives the people who enrol on them. For many adults, the opportunities for developing their skills ended after leaving school so it is encouraging that companies like Birmingham Airport offer workers access to develop themselves which can often lead to recognised qualifications and achievements in a range of subjects.  It makes good business sense, because ultimately this investment will benefit the organisation and greatly enhance the morale of its workforce.”
 
Jayne Howle, Training & Development Manager at Birmingham Airport, said, “We are dedicated to developing the skills of our employees and regardless of whether they are doing a course to ‘Improve Business English’ or completing a Masters in a specialised subject, we support all our staff as much as we possibly can. A personal development award ceremony is held each year to recognise learner achievements and to congratulate them on completing courses. The courses not only give people the chance to further themselves and their careers, but it also gives them confidence and job satisfaction.”

Photo caption: Jane Barlow and Patricia Mason from the Information Desk at Birmingham Airport have just taken their Level 1 British Sign Language exam and show their new skills to Alan Tuckett.