 | | Amarjit Basi, Principal of Walsall College |
| Congratulations to new BME principal, Amarjit Basi, recently appointed
at Walsall College. Amarjit joins a small group of BME principals and
becomes the first one in the West Midlands.
Amarjit, the eldest son of a first-generation Sikh immigrant who worked
in the metal-bashing foundries of The Black Country was born, schooled
and started his teaching career in Sandwell, West Midlands - just 5
miles from Walsall.
He began his teaching career at Alexandra High School in Sandwell in
1985, a job which he supplemented with part-time teaching at Sandwell
College. His subsequent progress through the academic ranks saw him
rise from teacher to programme leader, cross-college manager; faculty
director; deputy principal and interim principal before landing the
Walsall post. In all he has worked at five very different further
education colleges - most recently, Ealing, Hammersmith & West
London College. He has also taken on roles as a part-time inspector
(for OFSTED and previously the FEFC) and as a consultant for LSDA and
QCA.
So what has driven Amarjit’s success? The key career driver for him he
says has been the belief and experience that education and training is
the key to creating life chances, and that regardless of an
individual's background there should not be a threshold placed on their
potential. As he says: ‘disadvantage is a context, not an excuse’.
Amarjit readily acknowledges that he has benefited greatly from his
involvement with the Network. “Both Robin & Rajinder have always
been strong advocates throughout my time in further education”, he
says. “They were instrumental in providing me with my first formal
mentoring support through the network. This was very influential in
leading to my move to West London to take up the post as Deputy
Principal - leading to perhaps my most successful and happiest time in
FE.
“I have always been hugely impressed by the energy, enthusiasm and
conviction of the small team that drive forward the Network. The
Network/BLI has been magnificent in lobbying key policy makers to raise
the profile of equality and diversity within our sector, and the fact
that I now join a still too small group of black principals reminds me
of the responsibilities that I have to encourage greater elevation
through the ranks for the undoubted talent that diverse communities
contribute to the UK education system.” |
.JPG&width=75&height=75 "Network honours leaders in Race Equality")
