27 March 2023

The award also applauded the College’s commitment to providing opportunities for international students to study in Wales, supporting them academically and pastorally, and helping them to integrate into the community.

Gower College Swansea has developed partnerships with colleges and institutions internationally, enabling students to engage in global programmes, such as its partnership with T-Hub, the world’s largest tech start-up incubator, based in Hyderabad, India.

Universities Wales, through its Global Wales programme, invited T-Hub to Wales in July 2022. The aim of the visit was to facilitate engagement opportunities for higher and further education with industry through partnerships. In the case of further education, here was a particular focus on supporting skill development for young start-ups.

The visit started an ongoing dialogue between Gower College Swansea and T-Hub to explore opportunities for further collaboration. This led to a joint submission of a successful Taith application between Gower College Swansea, T-Hub, and Cardiff and Vale College to design and develop a series of short electric vehicle (EV) courses covering:

• Electric vehicle technology

• Electric vehicle technology and innovation

• Entrepreneurialism and climate change

In both India and Wales, there is a gap between the rapid emergence of new technologies and courses available to train young entrepreneurs in green skills, as well as the rate at which new courses can be created. It is hoped that the Taith Pathway 2 project to develop these short, flexible courses, will help to meet the increasing demand for professionals in the environmental and sustainability sectors, and contribute to addressing the climate emergency.

Ruth Owen Lewis, Head of International at Gower College Swansea, on winning the award said:

“It is such an honour to be presented with this prestigious award. The benefits of internationalisation on students, staff, the classroom and curriculum, and the College as a whole are tremendous.

“Our aim at Gower College Swansea is to take the College to the world and bring the world to the College, creating global citizens with an appreciation of the world at large, and ambition to contribute to a global society. This award confirms that we are a leading global college, with internationalisation at our heart and very essence, and is testimony to the efforts of our staff.”

Gwen Williams, assistant director (international), Universities Wales said “We are delighted to see Gower College Swansea receive this award,. Their commitment to internationalism within further education is a great asset to Wales, and  we’re pleased that the partnership with T-Hub, facilitated by Global Wales, has been a part of this award success. Congratulations to the team at Gower College Swansea, we look forward to continuing to work together to progress international further education in Wales.”

Mahankali Srinivas Rao, CEO, T-Hub said, "At T-Hub, we are always looking to collaborate with like-minded institutions and organisations that share our vision of nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship. Our partnership with Gower College Swansea has been a perfect example of such collaboration, where we have been able to facilitate engagement opportunities for higher and further education with industry through partnerships. We are proud to have jointly submitted a successful Taith application with Gower College Swansea and Cardiff and Vale College to design and develop a series of short electric vehicle (EV) courses."