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INCREASING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL, LAUNCH OF THE UNICAFÉ PROJECT.
Launched today is an innovative pilot education initiative - the UniCafé project. Learners will be able to download course material from computers located at different sites in the community. Set up by eight partners, a mixture of educational and non-educational institutes, the UniCafé Partnership aims to offer a range of accessible learning locations: Guildford Library's new Learning Centre (opened today), TESCO plc, East Surrey College, Farnborough College of Technology, Godalming College, Guildford College of Further & Higher Education, Lingfield Telecottage and Surrey TEC.
Driven by the University of Surrey's desire to promote learning opportunities for all and the need to accommodate these opportunities with people's lifestyles at the start of the 21st century, the UniCafé project aims to provide a flexible and friendly learning environment. Professor Andrew Lockwood, one of the Academic Co-ordinators of the UniCafé project and Professor of Hospitality Management, University of Surrey says; "Through the UniCafé project, we will be encouraging people to learn in their own time and at a location that is easily accessible to them."
Funded by the European Social Fund under the ADAPT scheme (EU initiative to enhance employability and workplace skills), the Unicafé project is aimed at people who work in SMEs (small to medium enterprises) and those who have been unemployed for six months or less. The courses offered will mainly concentrate on the skills and training of the retail and distributive trades. As the UniCafé project is initially being piloted in the South East of England, these courses will support the growing need to promote the South East region's economic growth in the service sector.
The UniCafé project was initially set up through collaboration between two Schools at the University of Surrey, the School of Educational Studies and the School of Management Studies for the Service Sector. Both these schools have specialised in developing interactive, on-line, distance learning courses and researching education methods for the future.
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