A BURSARY scheme to bring more people into lecturing in Wales may be made permanent after the success of a two-year trial.
The Welsh Assembly says the scheme has boosted the number of graduates enrolling for the postgraduate certificate in education in further education. The trial will run for another year.
Margaret Phelan, Wales regional organiser for Natfhe, the lecturers’ union, said: “We’re not surprised to hear of the impact.”
The pound;6,000 bursaries do not have to be paid back if the students later decide not to go into FE. Applicants for one course, at University of Wales College, Newport, have increased from 10 to 90 since the bursaries were introduced.
A spokesman for the Welsh education department said the bursaries had been cited as an important factor in such increases.