Bertie McClure worked at the Belfast Technical College for 39 years.
"Belfast followed middle England in terms of technical education. In around the 1880's 1890's Sheffield or Manchester developed technical education because you had mill owners and industrialists who needed technical staff to improve the output of their company. They were behind the scenes driving the need for education. So in Belfast the mill owners on the Falls Road and that general area encouraged the city fathers "the Belfast Corporation" to follow the same path and have a further education or technical institute.
"They formed a small technical school in the street that the present Millfield College of Technology stands on. That building was mainly for people engaged in processes in mills e.g., spinning and weaving. They would learn the techniques of operating and improving the machinery and they were learning in Belfast for the first time.
"Another interesting fact about the small college was that it was designed for night students. You may think it was used for day education but it was an industrial practice building and people in those days didn't leave their work to come to education. Records show that student attendances were very low during the day, but high in the evening."
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