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Pilot for part-time post-grads
22/06/2009
Ten Scottish universities are to receive a share of around £250,000 a year for the next two years to help cover the tuition fees of 150 part-time postgraduate students - the first time that such support has been made available for part-time post-graduates. Each student will receive £3400 during the two year pilot.
Nineteen courses - six new and 13 existing - will have places funded through the scheme at UHI Millennium, Robert Gordon, Aberdeen, Abertay, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh Napier, Strathclyde, West of Scotland and at Dundee and Stirling through a joint project.
These institutions were successful in their bids to have places funded through the Scottish Government's new pilot scheme which aims to enable students to undertake courses during the downturn which support the Government's economic priority sectors - the creative industries, energy, financial and business services, food and drink, life sciences and tourism and the public sector priority areas of health and education.
As well as supporting students and these key sectors, the pilot will help the Scottish Government examine the feasibility of extending such support to a wider range of part-time postgraduates.
Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:
"The Scottish Government is determined to ensure that our people and businesses receive the help they need to deal with the pressures of the economic downturn and are fully prepared for the upturn when the time comes. Through our ScotAction scheme we are putting in place an integrated package of measures to help individuals and businesses through the recession, including support to help people access new training and skills opportunities.
"The funding we are making available to run this pilot is a valuable part of that and will enable our universities to offer a range of new and innovative part-time postgraduate opportunities in areas which are key to our economy including the creative industries, biotechnology and medical science, as well as helping part-time students access existing high quality courses in other key sectors from tourism and hospitality to renewable energy. Expanding part-time study opportunities is an important part of workforce development in these key growth sectors.
"This support for fee costs is in addition to other forms of improved help being put in place for part-time and postgraduate students in the next academic year, announced in the last few months, including raising the threshold for the Individual Learning Accounts to enable anyone with an income of up to £22,000 to access up to £500 a year for re-training and upskilling, extending ILA support to postgraduate courses to help graduates through the downturn and expanding the Career Development Loan scheme."
Professor Dame Joan Stringer, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University, said:
"Our postgraduate courses are hugely popular with both students and employers as they provide the vocational and interpersonal skills valued by industries as diverse as tourism and biomedical science. We fully support this pilot scheme which will give important backing to our part-time taught postgraduate students. Our successful bid reflects the work that Edinburgh Napier has already undertaken, and will continue to do so, in providing flexible courses and confident and employable graduates."
Heriot-Watt Principal Professor Anton Muscatelli said:
"We are delighted to be taking part in this important pilot scheme. We are a research based university and it is very gratifying that four of the final 19 successful courses are at Heriot-Watt. The courses feature renewable energy, and sustainability engineering, key areas within our strategic themes and reflecting Heriot-Watt's strategy of an interdisciplinary approach to solving the world's major current challenges."
Professor Mike Pittilo, Principal of Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, said:
"I am delighted that two of our courses - the PgDip Oil and Gas Management and the PgDip/MSc Project Management - have been successful in their bids to the Scottish Government, and was particularly gratified to learn that the Oil and Gas Management bid received the highest score of all those submitted.
"This additional funding will significantly extend the opportunities and flexibility we can offer to our students in pursuing their education and is particularly timely given the current economic climate. It is also further endorsement of our commitment to producing high-calibre graduates who are able to address the skills shortages which have been identified in Scotland."