Pioneering Syd's last stand

“There is nothing more important than giving a child an opportunity for education,” he says.

“You cannot overstate the importance of education for the nation. It has to be the most important investment.”

He is well qualified to hold a view on the subject, Syd was instrumental in the formation of Colchester Sixth Form College from its inception in the early Eighties.

He has been a governor there for nearly 30 years, including being chairman for 12 years.

He was made an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list of 2002, although he plays that down.

Not bad for a lad who left school at 15.

He said: “I don’t know what I got it for.

“The university put me up for it and I think it was for working there and services to education at the college.

“I was not going to take it, I don’t agree with that sort of thing, but it was pointed out to me a lot of people had worked really hard to get this recognition and it would be churlish of me to turn it down.

“I took my three children to the ceremony and was able to tell the taxi driver at Liverpool Street I wanted to go to Buckingham Palace, which was good.”

Syd, of Harwich Road, Colchester, was born in South London and left school at 15 to join the Army. He moved to Colchester as part of his service.

He settled in the town after he met his first wife and went to work at Essex University as a technician. He was to stay at the university for 35 years inavariety of roles, including as an equal opportunities officer,arole he describes as a privilege.

His involvement with Colchester Sixth Form College began through his involvement with the Labour party.

He said: “I was chairman of the Colchester Labour Party and I stood as the Labour candidate in the county council elections of 1981 in Parson’s Heath.

“I didn’t think I would get it, but we had a policy of putting a candidate in every seat. To my surprise,Iwon.”

Syd got a place on the education committee.

He said: “Colchester had one of the lowest stay-on rates for 16- year-olds for a town of its size in the country. Only 20 per cent were staying on past 16 and that was quite worrying.

“The Labour Party proposed a sixth form college for Colchester, then we had to convince the rest of the county council, which was Tory-led.

“Lord Hanningfield, or Paul White as he was then, was the chairman of the education committee and he came on board with the idea fairly soon.”

It was decided to use the former Gilberd School on North Hill, which had been empty since the Gilberd had moved up to its site in north Colchester.

Syd said: “We were overjoyed.

“It was in the town centre and it meant everyone who lived in the town area could get transport to it. We thought it would take 850 students. We were popular from day one and we got 850 students in our first intake.”

Today, the college has more than 3,000 students taking A-level and International Baccalaureate courses and is one of the highest achieving sixth form colleges in the country.

However, the development of the college has not been without its challenges.

Syd said: “When Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, there was pressure on sixth form colleges to provide vocational studies, as well as A-levels.

“We have always worked closely with Colchester Institute and although Margaret Thatcher was competition, competition, competition, we did not want to be competitive with the institute; we wanted to complement them and still do today.”

The mention of Government intervention triggersachange in Syd from likeable, positive and engaging, to something akin to Sir Alex Ferguson in hairdryer mode.

Government, he says, is, without doubt the worst influence on colleges such as Colchester’s.

“All governments,” he clarifies.

“Why can’t they leave the professionals alone to get on with the job? Why do they think they know better?

“The worst of all was not Margaret Thatcher, or Major or Blair, it was Gove. As for the current Government, I feel they just want to get rid of sixth form colleges.

They are cutting funds massively again and again.

“Sixth forms offer the best value for money in this country’s education system and yet we get less per students than schools.

“Our teachers are paid less than school teachers. Sixth form colleges still have to pay VAT, when schools don’t.”

Syd’s smile returns, almost apologetically. He should not apologise about his passion nor for caring so deeply about the college and its staff and students.

After 30 years, Syd has decided to step down from the board of governors.

His thirst for knowledge, however, will continue and he is a member of the U3A and does courses with the WEA.

But he will miss the teachers and staff, who he describes as brilliant, but the time has come.

A new student area at the college has been named in his honour – the Syd Kent Pavilion.

“I am really proud, chuffed,” he said, “but I am not sure I am worthy.”