Dudley College in £500,000 Indian education leaders training contract
Dudley College has clinched a £500,000 contract to provide training for 250 education leaders from India over the next two years.
Experts will teach leadership and management skills to principals at polytechnics from across India as part of the project.
College officials will visit India for a series of workshops over the next year.
And there will also be a four-day visit by Indian delegates for them to shadow and observe staff from the college.
Officials said this would allow them to see its leadership and management style in action.
Cash from the contract will be used to invest in staff and the college's estate.
It will build on the experiences of the college's Leadership and Management Hub, which has already provided similar training in the UK, Libya and Saudi Arabia.
Bosses said the Indian government was hoping to train hundreds of workers in the next six years.
Dudley College principal Lowell Williams said: "A growth in India's economy and its fast developing global position has led to the India government setting a target to train 500 million workers by 2020.
"Part of this colossal challenge is to provide its college principals with the leadership skills required to manage their organisations through this time of transition.
"Further education in the UK is recognised internationally for its quality and achievements.
"It makes perfect sense for successful colleges such as Dudley College to share its expertise with emerging nations like India to improve the skills of their workforces.
"For Dudley College, the contract is not only an opportunity to showcase our expertises overseas, but it also brings significant revenue into the college that we can reinvest into our staffing and estate."
The contract was with the UK India Education Research Initiative.
This works in partnership with the All India Council for Technical Education, India's statutory body for planning and developing technical and management education.
The UK India Education and Research Initiative started in April 2006 as a five year scheme with the aim of improving educational links between India and the UK.
It is the latest big development for the college, which has already created a new sixth form centre called Dudley Sixth, in Priory Road, along with a vocational centre - Dudley Evolve - in Tower Street.
Work is also under way on Dudley Advance - a £7million base, also in Priory Road, which will offer a range of manufacturing and engineering courses.
The college is also working on plans to build a specialist maths block for full and part-time students, which will be called Dudley Enhance.
