Dame Asha Khemka remains a “valued” Institute for Apprenticeships board member and will not be leaving the role, despite her resignation from West Nottinghamshire College earlier this week.
FE Week reported yesterday that the institute had refused to say if it still backed Dame Asha, more than 48 hours after news broke of her departure from WNC.
This morning a spokesperson finally confirmed that “Dame Asha Khemka remains a valued member of the IfA board”, even though she is no longer a serving principal.
Dame Asha, who led WNC from 2006, stepped down from the top job on Monday following a “special meeting of the board of governors” held “in light of the current challenges faced by the college”.
It was forced to go to the Education and Skills Funding Agency in July for a £2.1 million bailout, just 48 hours before it would have run out of cash.
Dame Asha was one of two college principals appointed to the IfA’s board in January 2017.
She is also a member of the Cabinet Office’s education honours committee, which is responsible for reviewing honours nominations for people involved in education.
This is a fixed-term position, and the Cabinet Office confirmed on Tuesday that she will remain in post until her contract expires.
Dame Asha was one of the most highly-paid principals in the FE sector, with a remuneration package worth £262,000 in 2016/17.
She receives £15,000 a year for her role on the IfA board. Following her appointment last year, a spokesperson for WNC refused to say whether Dame Asha would keep the money herself or give it to the college.
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