Fife Women's Technology Centre
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS 1990-2010
Fife Women’s Technology Centre (FWTC) is an award winning community based learning centre that has been providing training in new technology to unemployed women since 1990. Our aim is to break down gender based barriers to employment in higher level technologies, where women remain vastly under-represented.
As well as continual development and expansion of the provision for women, FWTC has opened up the doors to unemployed men, by offering IT Essentials and Cisco networking courses – industry recognised skills and qualifications for men aiming to get back into work or retrain.
Since 2004 FWTC has developed partnerships with local schools and offer a programme of technology based activities for S3 and S4 pupils at risk of exclusion. This allows pupils to experience learning in a less formal setting and introduces them to the idea that technology can be interesting, fun and a viable option for further education and/or a career. With this in mind a Young Engineers Club runs on a Tuesday evening for children of primary school age.
From 2005 an in-house 1:1 counselling service has been offered to all students at FWTC. This is offered free and without time-limit.
We also have a highly successful outreach IT programme, taking laptop computers into local communities. Courses run across Fife.
FWTC has considerable experience in developing and delivering training to those who are at risk of exclusion and those disadvantaged and marginalised in the labour market. We are a highly pro-active project and have changed considerably over the years in direct response to trainee, community and employer’s needs. Our strengths lie in our responsiveness to necessary change.
FWTC is an organisation that continually develops to meet not only changes in technology but also ensure that as many people as possible have access to training opportunities.