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19 Feb 2010 09:16:18
A mentoring scheme involving the University of Bedfordshire is making dreams a reality.
The successful national Aimhigher Associates mentoring scheme involves linking young people of school age with university students from a similar background. They can then give them the benefit of their experience as the young people make decisions about their future education and careers.
Undergraduates are recruited to become associates, and use their personal experience to encourage and support pupils as young as 14 to make the most of their talents. It is planned that these interactions will develop over time, typically involving 15-20 sessions per associate per year.
Aimhigher Bedfordshire recruited 65 undergraduates for its own associates programme this year who are providing assistance to 700 school and college pupils in the area with options available to them for progression into higher education.
Many of the associates recruited from the University of Bedfordshire were placed in the schools and colleges they went to prior to university.
Steve Kendall, Director of Aimhigher Bedfordshire, said: “The pilot phase of Aimhigher Associates demonstrated how successful sustained relationships between undergraduates and school and college pupils can be, especially when these individuals are from similar backgrounds.
“We’re building on what we learned from last year and developing the scheme even further, so that more young people can benefit from the insight and experience of our graduates.”
More than 7,000 people of school age have been inspired and encouraged to consider university when they are older through the support of the scheme.
Aimhigher Associates was introduced in 17 areas of England last year, including Aimhigher Bedfordshire where around 400 young people took part, and has since been rolled out to 42 areas nationwide.
The £21 million scheme is part of the wider Aimhigher programme, which is aimed at students from less well-represented groups and involves tutoring, university visits and summer schools.
Ashnil Momi is a first year Business Management student working in Hastingsbury Business and Enterprise College. He said: “It’s been a great experience to go back and apply what I’ve learnt to help others. You give the support you’ve got but in a different form - by being on the students’ level.”
Another associate, Ayny Awan, is a third year Business Information Systems student working in Luton Sixth Form College. She said: “Revisiting the college brought back many memories. Knowing that I could be the inspiration for a young person to further their education motivated me to share my own experiences.”
For further information, contact the Aimhigher Associates Scheme Officer Amira Elwakil-Lucman on amira.elwakil-lucman@beds.ac.uk
Latest news» 2010» February» Opportunity to Aimhigher in Bedfordshire
