We are becoming part of The Guernsey Institute - a new organisation bringing the island's further and higher education offerings in to one place. Why? To create a go-to centre for the Bailiwick for technical, vocational, professional and lifelong learning. The Guernsey Institute is bringing the Guernsey College of Further Education, the GTA University Centre and the Institute of Health & Social Care Studies under one roof, to combine, and then by working collaboratively, extend their offerings.
In the last few months, the team involved with the programme has been working at pace to start that process. This work has seen The Guernsey Institute quickly move from concept to reality. The organisation now has its own branding, which you may start to see around our campuses. Its staff have also started to come together to meet some of their new colleagues for the first time. That was an important milestone, because The Guernsey Institute is about people: it is about providing a desirable work environment to the staff of its three organisations. It is about bringing people together to learn new things. It is about providing skills to the people of the Bailiwick.
You may ask what advantage this move has for our organisation. Well when you bring together the agile business model and the experience of the course management staff at the GTA, the strong relationship with Middlesex University of the IHSCS, and the huge breadth of offering of the College of Further Education, you end up with an organisation with the potential to up skill people right across the Bailiwick's workforce, offer adult learning opportunities to better the wellbeing of the population, and offer a chance to walk higher education roads locally, with options like foundation degrees.
The Guernsey Institute does have a more physical element as well. The plan is to bring the College, the GTA and the IHSCS together, under the roof of one, purpose built facility at Les Ozouets. Right now, the three organisations are spread across four campuses, all of varying quality and size. The TGI programme will see a site developed which does not downgrade any of the current facilities, but brings them all into one place, so the organisation can truly operate as one.
The end goal of The Guernsey Institute is to see the College, GTA and IHSCS become more than the sum of their parts. A building on its own won't achieve this goal, but each element of the programme will allow The Guernsey Institute to achieve its mission, and become an essential pillar of the island's learning community.
