Asha Khemka receiving the honour from the Queen
Asha took up her post as Principal and Chief Executive of West Nottinghamshire College in May 2006. It is one of the largest colleges in the country with 25,000 students and an annual budget of over £50 million. Under Asha`s leadership, the College went through a full Ofsted inspection in May 2008 with an `outstanding` grade profile across the board, leading to Beacon Status recognition.
The College was also successful in achieving Best Companies one star accreditation in January 2009 and again in January 2010. It also ranked 14th in the Sunday Times 75 Best Places to Work in the Public Sector 2010. The College achieved Investors in People Gold Accreditation and the Health and Well-Being Good Practice Award in July 2010. The College has been successful in winning AoC Beacon Awards for 5 consecutive years.
In July 2007, Asha was awarded the National Jewel Award for Excellence in Healthcare and Education, in recognition of her contribution to the FE sector. In May 2008, she was honoured with the Asian Women of Achievement Award. In January 2009, Asha received Royal recognition for her contribution to Further Education and was appointed an OBE. In October 2009 she was awarded the Midlands Businesswoman of the Year. The NRI Welfare Society of India awarded Asha with a Gold medal for her work in education as a non-resident Indian in September 2010.
Asha is a board member of several national organisations, including the Association of Colleges (AoC) being the Chair of their Quality and Performance Portfolio Group, City and Guilds Council and the Indo British Trade Council. She is also a member of the Nottingham University Council, Derby University Court and 157 Group. She is the founder of the Inspire and Achieve Foundation whose main objective is to raise the aspirations of working class young people.
In 2009, college principal Asha Khemka established the Inspire & Achieve Foundation. The Foundation is a registered charity created to improve the prospects of young people from regeneration areas such as Mansfield
In recognition of her outstanding achievements and
contribution to the field of education in UK, NRI principal and chief
executive of West Nottinghamshire College Asha Khemka has received a
gold medal and certificate.
India's High Commissioner to UK Nalin Surie and
Dr Bishma Narain Singh, a senior congress leader and President of the
NRI Welfare Society of India, jointly presented the award to Khemka at a
glittering event at the House of Lords organised by the NRI Welfare
Society of India.
Hosted by Baroness Sandip Verma, Government
spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, international development and women
and equalities, the award recognised Khemka's significant contributions
in the education field and service of the wider global community.
Receiving
the award, Khemka said: "I feel overwhelmed and genuinely privileged to
have received this gold award. People travelled from all over the world
to collect their awards in London and I was lucky enough to meet many
of these people.
"After hearing some of their success stories and
great life journeys, I felt very humbled to be in the company of such
high-achievers.
"I'm truly grateful to have been one of those
people to be recognised. I do my job well because of the tremendous
support I get from my work colleagues and from my family.
There
are so many people in this world who achieve much in life but don't get
the recognition they deserve so I feel very lucky to have my
achievements recognised in this way".
Born in Bihar's Sitamarhi
district and married at the age of 15, Asha moved to the UK in 1975 with
her husband and three young children.
With no formal
qualifications, she overcame significant cultural and language barriers
to succeed. In the mid 1980s, Asha decided to embark on her own
education.
Within less than 20 years, her career evolved from
mature student to lecturer, deputy principal and Ofsted inspector to the
first female principal and CEO of a UK college, born and raised in
India.
In October 2009, she was crowned the Midlands Businesswoman of the year.
Earlier
that year she was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the
Queen in recognition of her services to further education.
In May
2008, Khemka picked up an Asian Woman of Achievement award for her
outstanding contribution to education, and in July 2007 won the National
Jewel Award for Excellence in Healthcare and Education.
Since
taking over at the Nottinghamshire college in 2006, she has transformed
it into one of the top colleges in the country; with more than 25,000
students, a grade on 'Outstanding' ranking from Ofsted (Office for
Standards in Education) - the government department that inspects and
regulates education providers - and category 'A' financial status
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