Leading figure in Scottish technical education
Born: June 28, 1935;
Died: July 1, 2018
DENNIS Hemingway, who has died aged 83, was a prominent figure in Scottish education and instrumental in reforming technical education in the country.
Mr Hemingway was chief officer of SCOTEC, the Scottish Technical Education Council, from 1973 to 1985, when SCOTEC merged with its sister organisation SCOTBEC, the Scottish Business Education Council, to form the Scottish Vocational Education Council.
The years from 1973 to 1985 brought major challenges to Scottish tertiary education, in responding to the demands of an increasingly diverse industrial and commercial sector. SCOTEC and SCOTBEC adapted quickly to meet the situation, taking on new, extended responsibilities and developing appropriate administrative systems. Innovation during this period was swift and comprehensive, enthusing many, challenging some, and perhaps alarming others.
Mr Hemingway's education and business experience proved ideal in the role of chief officer. On leaving Normanton Grammar School, in his home town of Wakefield, he attended Leeds University, graduating BA(Hons) in mathematics. He took up full-time employment in the aerospace industry, as a member of the design team in Bristol Aviation.
He then lectured in Bristol before his appointment as secretary of ULCI, the Union of Lancashire and Cheshire Institutes, which administered technician and craft courses over much of Northern England. Although SCOTEC's remit was more extensive, mixing executive and administrative functions, the managerial role was similar and familiar.
Mr Hemingway insisted that SCOTEC must be responsive to the vocational training needs of the industries and businesses where students would be employed. After lengthy debate and consideration, the council adopted the policy that all SCOTEC courses must be based on industrial objectives and extensive consultation became a prerequisite to approval for any new course.
Representatives of industries involved chaired development groups and were in the majority at senior committee and council level. They also accepted appointments as syllabus writers and examiners, working alongside college staff. Such unprecedented innovation led, inevitably, to some friction with traditionalists who felt that the rigid system of ONC/D HNC/D and the craft courses of CGLI should be sacrosanct.
It says much for the SCOTEC provision and Mr Hemingway's persuasive arguments that most of the sceptics were eventually won over and SCOTEC courses were recognised by professional and regulatory bodies such as the Engineering Council, the Mining Qualifications Board, the Department of Trade and the Home Office.
Mr Hemingway withdrew from the education scene shortly after the establishment of SCOTVEC, having been instrumental in moving the system forward to ensure that technical education would continue to reflect the needs of students following a business or industrial career.
He was missed by former SCOTEC colleagues, who had appreciated and benefitted from his informal and supportive management style. He had an active retirement, continuing his role as secretary of the Scottish Nursery Nurses Education Board. He was also an official timekeeper in amateur swimming and served as secretary of the Friends of Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire.
Throughout his career, he enjoyed the love and support of Rosalie, whom he married in 1958 and their family, Tina, Sara, Mark and Karen.
JOE MCLAUGHLIN
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