Jobs for the girls

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International student Chisanga Chikolwa, 22 from Zambia has been living in Paisley for two years and heard that the course at Reid Kerr was what she was looking for. She said, “I studied my A Levels in Rwanda and came to Scotland to study a course in business. I am particularly interested in the Quality Assurance sector of the industry and I am hoping my former studies will be an asset to my course.”

Former St. Andrews Academy pupil, Eleanor McGowan, 17 from Paisley was always interested in the type of careers traditionally followed by boys and thought the HNC at Reid Kerr would be a great start. She commented, “I always knew I wanted to work as a car mechanic or even study mechanical engineering. I think the course at Reid Kerr will give me a good grounding and have already found the maths section of the programme a lot easier that I had anticipated. Having studied computer aided design (CAD) at school it is great to further my experience at college especially since this is a key area within the industry.”

Amreet Atwal, 16 from Paisley left school in the summer 2006 and after completing her higher's at Craigholme School in Glasgow she decided that a course in engineering would be a good route given her qualifications. She said, “I enjoyed studying maths when I was at school and thought the programme at Reid Kerr would give me a good foundation for getting into university at a later stage.”

After finding out her teacher at school had studied engineering, Lauren Shirlaw, 18 from Glasgow thought it would be a good career move. She said, “My female maths teacher had told me a bit about her studies and when I heard she had studied engineering and gone onto teaching, I realised there was a bit more to the subject than I thought. Studying at college has been very different from school but I am enjoying the fact that you have a bit more independence.”

All of the girls are studying the HNC full-time at Reid Kerr and enjoying the wide range of subjects covered. They all hope to go onto university to continue with engineering as their career choice.

HNC Engineering at Reid Kerr can be studied day-release or full-time and includes core subjects such as quality assurance, communications and an engineering project. Students also have the opportunity to choose from a selection of optional units including computer aided design (CAD).

For more information on Engineering at Reid Kerr College, Contact Student Services on 0800 053 7343.

Press release: Monday 2 October 2006