New north Dublin-based college offers ‘career testing sessions’
A NIGERIAN businesswoman has launched a new college that is running summer programmes and will be fully operational in September.
Premier College Ireland at the Ballymun Whitehall Enterprise Centre is the brainchild of Yinka Dixon, who describes herself as a “qualified vocational skills assessor”.
Full- and part-time courses will be run from September at the college, and a number of short part-time programmes are running over the summer. Courses include strategic management and leadership, airline customer service, IT, handling and conflict management.
Dixon is hiring 20 tutors and admits that it’s been difficult to get the venture up and running. “It’s hasn’t been easy and has taken more than a year to put together.”
Asked if she faced extra barriers as a Nigerian businesswoman living in Ireland, she said: “All the time. There are instances when people feel you shouldn’t be qualified to do what you are qualified to do. And of course being a woman is an added challenge.”
However Dixon added that many people are supportive.
She said the summer courses are two to four weeks in duration and that there are “free career testing sessions that helps people determined their learning motivations”.
Dixon added that the college is also able to “customise training to suit specific needs”.
