Posted: 18/03/11
International guests visit college
Students at West Nottinghamshire College have met with two international visitors.
Over 40 learners welcomed Tan Jing Shen, the student association president of the University of Nottingham’s Malaysian campus (UNMC), when he visited the college on Wednesday 16 March.
Tan Jing, known as Jason, has spent a week at the University of Nottingham’s city campus and was invited to meet students at West Notts by principal and chief executive Asha Khemka OBE during her visit to the University of Nottingham’s Malaysian campus last year.
Jason (21) and two of his friends have recently set up a company called Amun-ra Global Entertainment which is seeing them working on a £1.2 million reality television project which aims to promote the idea of humanity and racial integration in entrepreneurship and business with youths from all over the world.
Jason spoke to students about life in Malaysia, his studies on the applied psychology and business management degree through the University of Nottingham, as well as the challenges and opportunities that his social enterprise project has brought him.
Students discovered more about Jason’s drive and ambition to succeed in business and his dream to work for the United Nations representing the youth of Malaysia.
Principal Asha Khemka said: “It was an absolute privilege to welcome this inspirational and enterprising young man to the college. He will go a long way with such ambition together with his commitment to keep unity and social responsibility at the heart of his business projects.
“Our students took on board his passion for working hard, never giving up and aiming high, and discussed how they can begin to help others through the ‘Big Society’ way of thinking that Jason has clearly adopted in his own life.”
Meanwhile, on the same day (16 March), academic studies learners met with a principal and teacher of a Rwandan school.
The visit by Paul Rusagara, the principal of APEBU School in Nyamata, Rwanda, and teacher Judith Mwambarangwe follows on from an earlier visit to Rwanda by the college’s Academic Studies’ programme area leader Vlad Gogelescu.
Vlad spent a week in Rwanda in 2009 when he met with teachers and students at APEBU School. Vlad also took football shirts to the Rwandan youngsters which had been donated by West Notts staff and students, and arranged football matches with young people in the town.
Paul and Judith met with academic studies learners to find out more about the British curriculum and toured the college’s facilities. Politics students discussed the key political institutions in the two countries and learnt more about the positive discrimination in Rwandan parliamentary elections.
Vlad said: “The feedback from the Rwandan visitors was excellent and they were very impressed with the maturity of the students and the questions they asked. Paul and Judith were also impressed by the versatility of the courses available at our college.
“This was a great opportunity for students and staff to find out about the educational challenges faced by the people of Rwanda”.
