Minister Bruton Endorses Cross Border Education Alliance

The Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton is visiting Letterkenny today to endorse a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Ulster University, North West Regional College and Donegal ETB.
The new agreement is a commitment to establishing a strategic alliance between the education providers, with a view to increasing collaboration north and south of the border.
The announcement is of particular importance in the context of Brexit and is of great significance to the region.
The MoU builds on previous work undertaken between the education and training providers in the area of student mobility and commits to working closely together to consolidate the existing collaboration and further support regional growth, achieve better education, training, innovation and R&D outcomes for the region North West region.
Minister Bruton also opened a new school building for Letterkenny ETNS, while in Donegal. The new 24 classroom building will cater for over 200 students in the area.
Speaking at the signing of the MoU, Minister Bruton said, “Today’s announcement is a fantastic development for the North West region. This new partnership will greatly enhance collaboration between the education and training providers in key areas such as research, innovation and education and training.
“Brexit will pose a significant challenge to our higher and further education institutions. Through our Action Plan for Education, which aims to make Ireland’s education system the best in Europe within a decade, we are preparing our education and training providers to respond to this challenge. Talent drives the success of any region and strong hubs will be the engine of regional development. Today’s partnership is a very welcome development, which will have a really significant impact on the North West region.”
This is an initiative of the North West Strategic Growth Partnership, in partnership with the Higher and Further Education and Training Institutions of the North West City Region.