A COLLEGE at the centre of a multimillion-pound initiative to help transform the economy of one of Africa's poorest countries is targeting further international expansion.

City of Glasgow College said a groundbreaking project to teach maritime skills to students in Angola, highlighted by The Herald, could provide a blueprint for working in other countries.

Under the partnership with global shipping company Stena and Angola's state oil company Sonangol, staff from the Glasgow college have helped design a purpose-built £65 million maritime training centre in Angola, as well as developing the curriculum and providing lecturing staff. Students from Angola will spend part of their course in Glasgow.

Paul Little, principal of City of Glasgow College, said the success of the Angola project had provided a template to be used again.

The move comes at a time when the international success of Scotland's higher education sector is well established, with many universities either operating ­overseas campuses or working in partnership to offer Scottish qualifications abroad. However, the work colleges do overseas is less well-recognised.

Mr Little said: "We realise that the quality of our education is valued overseas and on the maritime side alone we know that is the case in countries such as Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Jamaica, the Philippines and Brazil.

"We want to have a network of centres across the globe, as long as it is meticulously planned."

Mr Little believes the move into Angola - and other countries - is helping to redefine what colleges are capable of, assisted by the fact mergers across Scotland have created much larger colleges.

He said: "When we created the new merged City of Glasgow College from a number of other colleges we wanted to redefine what people thought college education was.

"It meant there was a pooling together of all the expertise and talent of the staff and that magnified what was already there and created an economic powerhouse here in the centre of Glasgow.

"The world has now moved away from that idea of colleges just as local providers and there is a recognition that competitive economies need the skills and technicians that colleges can provide and that those qualifications are delivered in a cost-­effective way."

Laurence Howells, chief executive of the Scottish Funding Council, welcomed the Angola project.

"I know that staff from across the City of Glasgow College have been hands-on in designing the Angola Campus, including marine engineers, deck lecturers, college estate staff and staff from the halls of residences.

"It's a fantastic example of what colleges in Scotland can achieve internationally."