A COLLEGE chief has dismissed as indefensible the funding gap between further education and schools at a time when both are trying to meet the skill demands of employers.

Stephen Grix, a former student of Mid Kent College who has just become its principal and chief executive, has backed criticism of the present system by the Association of Colleges.

MKC, the first college in the country to be awarded Action for Business College status, works with more than 900 businesses throughout the region to provide people with the skills needed in a competitive workplace.

But Mr Grix believes the present funding system is wrong, forcing colleges to make cuts and raise prices, and denying MKC at least £1 million.

The recent Government White Paper on Skills encourages schools and colleges to work together to provide a wide range of qualifications for students, particularly in vocational subjects.

Colleges such as Mid Kent, which has campuses in Medway and Maidstone, are determined to shed a perception that for young people they are second best to schools, a view reinforced by the funding gap. Mr Grix said FE had often been regarded as the Cinderella sector.

He said: "Further Education Colleges receive up to 10 per cent less funding for 16 to 19-year-old students than schools.

"Mid-Kent College has 3,750 students aged 16 to 19. Closing the funding gap could make a difference of up to £1 million a year to the college, which could be used to improve facilities and resources."

He added: "It seems indefensible that colleges get less money for doing the same work and along with the Association of Colleges we are calling for this to be addressed.

"I recognise that in myself. I didn’t do brilliantly at school but I did well when I came to college because it’s a different environment, a more adult environment."

A recent survey showed that more than three quarters of people believe their local college is as important to business as a university, and vital to competitiveness.

Dr John Brennan, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: "Colleges are the backbone of British business. They provide the skills for a successful society."

Mr Grix’s top priority is to implement a major reorganisation that will see the college move from its Horsted, Chatham, and City Way, Rochester, campuses to a site in Lower Lines, Gillingham, close to the universities of Medway. It hopes to raise some of the £50 million cost by selling off land for housing, a decision that has caused local controversy.

Mr Grix hopes to have taken the heat out of the situation by reducing house numbers and addressing other concerns.

He outlined his vision for the college: "I want young people to think that Mid Kent College is somewhere that’s going to transform their lives."