From Daejeon to London: Korean delegation tours King’s Cross centre

Capital City College (CCC)’s King’s Cross centre welcomed visiting university executives and high school headmasters from Korea, as well as the new mayor of Camden.

CCC were treated to a visit from special guest Councillor Eddie Hanson, Mayor of Camden, and a group of around 30 visitors from Chungnam National University (CNU).

Based in Daejeon, Korea, CNU is one of ten Flagship Korean National Universities which cooperates with government and non-government institutions, due to its location near the Daedeok R&D Special District, the Multifunctional Administrative City, the Daejeon Government Complex, and the Headquarters of the Korean Army, Air Force, and Navy.

 As part of their initiative to improve the region’s technical high schools, CNU organised a group of headmasters of technical high schools (so-called ‘Meister High Schools’) who have an interest in schools preparing young people for industry. They came to the UK to learn and share good practices by visiting various organisations.

On Friday 16 May, the delegation visited CCC and learned about the major courses on offer for young people, especially some of the A level, apprenticeships and technical and vocational courses available.

A special guest of the day was Councillor Eddie Hanson, Mayor of Camden. This was his very first engagement as mayor, and he said: “It’s amazing that we’re having students from abroad coming to our local educational facilities, exchanging knowledge and ideas. It’s been wonderful to be able to host them and see how happy a day it’s been to share cultures, learning and educational ideas.”

He explained to guests that “Camden brings opportunities in the digital, scientific and creative industries to life for Camden’s young people, and is a home to many innovative businesses and institutions, from Google to the Francis Crick Institute, and world-leading university centres like UCL, as well as a huge range of thriving small and medium businesses and start-ups.”

The visitors received a tour of the centre, and in recognition of Teacher’s Day, which is celebrated each year in Korea on 15 May, the organisers from CCC were presented with red floral badges, in symbolism of the camellia flower which are often given to teachers and which are native to Korea.

Jasbir Sondhi, Group Principal for Young People, English, Mathematics and SEND at CCC, added: “It’s always really good for us to showcase how we have been innovating here, and I think for them to use the example they’ve based their model on, and what we’ve kind of done here is a demonstrate of being impactful. We’re not only having a local level but internationally as well. And I think we are in a unique position to show case what we’re doing around that vocation.” 

Kirsty McLaren, International Recruitment and Compliance Manager at CCC, said: “We were delighted to welcome senior representatives from Korean Meister High Schools to Capital City College today, sharing with them an insight into the vital role of the Further Education sector. Visits like this are invaluable in fostering the exchange of best practice and exploring opportunities for partnership and collaboration. We were honoured to be joined by the newly appointed Mayor of Camden, Councillor Eddie Hanson, whose presence on his first day in office made the occasion one to remember for everyone involved!”

Thank you to our visitors from Korea, and congratulations to Eddie Hanson, our new mayor of Camden!

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