THE chairman of Saga, the company which specialises in holidays for the over-50s, is to bankroll a city academy.
Roger De Haan has offered pound;1 million towards the cost of building an academy in Ramsgate, Kent, and is expected to play a key role in developing its ethos and mission.
He is the latest in a line of business moguls, including a carpet magnate, car dealer and employment agency entrepreneur, to back the Government scheme, which will establish state-funded independent schools.
Mr De Haan, the 11th individual to provide sponsorship, said: “I am very pleased to be supporting this project. East Kent has suffered over the years from the lack of investment in its infrastructure.
“I hope that the academy will reverse this trend giving opportunities to young people and promoting economic regeneration.”
Saga is based in Folkestone where it employs 2,000 people. It is building a new office block in East Kent, bringing in another 750 jobs.
The academy, which would specialise in art and business, would be in nearby Ramsgate and replace Ramsgate which has to compete with a grammar school.
Mr De Haan said: “Our business will be more successful if the area we are based in is more successful. The school we want to replace has some of the worst results in the country despite tremendous efforts made by the staff.”
Proposals are in the development stage and the Department for Education and Skills is funding a feasibility study.
Three academies opened this term - in Middlesbrough East and the London boroughs of Bexley and Haringey. Eight will open in 2003 and nine more in 2004. Big-name backers include Sir Frank Lowe, chairman of the Lowe advertising agency and Sir Peter Vardy, chairman of the national car dealership Reg Vardy.
Schools minister David Miliband this week urged wealthy schools such as Eton to find pound;2 million to sponsor academies in deprived areas.
His comments came at a conference on partnerships between the state and private sectors at Brighton college.
Civil servants have also approached Malory secondary in Lewisham, London, recently out of special measures, suggesting it become an academy. Malory has links with Haberdashers’ Aske’s and Hatchams city technology college.
News, 9
