Bradford College

• Home

• About Us

• Corporate Information

• College Corporation
  • Meet the Corporation
    • Andrew Chang
    • Alan Jerome
    • Gordon Senior
    • Richard Wightman
    • Dale Smith
    • Bob Sowman
    • Rawaz Khan
    • Karl Oxford
    • Ramindar Singh
    • Michele Sutton
    • Councillor David Robinson
    • Nasreen Karim
    • Ian McAleese
    • Dr Kath Hodgson
    • Nabeel Hussain
    • Eve Gregory
    • Richard Brown
    • Helen Kinsella

Ramindar Singh

“I worked at Bradford College for 27 years, starting as an economics lecturer, so joining the Corporation was a homecoming. I have served on a number of national organisations such as National Consumer Council, Estate Agents Ombudsman Council, Ombudsman Council for Building Societies, Education Committee of the BBC and the Advertising committee of the IBA. I served as a JP for 14 years on the Bradford Bench and for 6 years on the Lord Chancellor’s Committee for the Bench. I was a Member of the Compliance Board of The Law Society of England & Wales 2001-2005, and a Non- Executive Director of the NHS Leeds West Primary Care Trust until September 2006 and currently I am Deputy Lieutenant for West Yorkshire.

I was a founder member of the Bradford Racial Equality Council (REC) established in 1966, and remained a member of the Council and a member of its Executive Committee until 2000. I was Chairman of the Bradford REC in 1983-84 and chaired its Education Panel for 12 years, also chairing the steering committees in establishing Racial Equality Councils in Kirklees and Halifax. I was appointed a Commissioner of the Commission for Racial Equality in 1988 and was a joint Deputy Chairman for two years (1990-92). I contributed significantly to Sir Herman Ouseley's inquiry into race relations in Bradford and was awarded the MBE in 2002 for services to community relations in Bradford.

I retired in 1998 and returned as a Corporation member 2 years ago. I was approached because of my connection with College and for having wider connections within the community. The Corporation wanted me to contribute in 3 areas. Firstly, my 27 years of HE experience, expertise in developing and monitoring courses; experience as Head of Department of Contemporary Studies, particularly as Director of the CATs scheme; and my cross-college knowledge of FE, HE and the links between the them. Secondly, in strengthening College’s links with the local community organisations through my connections, which range right across the local community. I have written 3 books on the minority ethnic communities in the city and published papers on education, race relations and economic issues. Finally, to contribute in the effective operation of the Corporation utilising my board level experience and skills in management and chairing committees gained through appointments in national and local organisations. I make a particular contribution by raising questions about our communication with students and reviewing student complaints. As Chair of the Standards Committee, I am concerned with scrutinising student performance and what we are doing to improve and support this.

I am excited about our plans to attain degree awarding status but I am aware that we need to be tough with what we propose and validate to secure the correct image of the institution. If the College’s image is of high reputation with employers our students will benefit from these higher standards. I am confident that we will produce good degrees. Foundation degrees are another area of interest. In a place like Bradford any education needs to be related to employment to combat joblessness. Bradford needs to be an expanding economy and needs people with skills.

The College is moving in the right direction but needs to be aware all the time of the changing local situation and links to the national agenda. The needs of employers and the local community are changing all the time. The Eastern European minority is becoming visible and I have found they are very interested in improving their educational qualifications. As a local community college you need to think about space to create for them. All the time we must consider the redistribution of existing financial resources to suit changing needs and this is what we do on the Policy & Resources Committee. The College’s priorities are changing. We need to interact with the community a bit more and get their input into the institution. Staff and students should also have more input and as a Corporation member I am looking for visible examples of this happening.”