Strengthening educational and cultural cooperation, British Council looks ahead to train 30,000 teachers of Maharashtra

NewsBharati    27-Apr-2018
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Mumbai, April 27: Maharashtra shakes hands with British Council to mutually strengthen educational and cultural cooperation. By penning a pact mutually, British Council looks forward to train around 30,000 teachers of Maharashtra especially in English. 

On Thursday, the government of Maharashtra inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the British Council to strengthen educational and cultural cooperation between the two nations, the organisation said.

This good news was welcomed as UK’s International Culture and Educational Arm completed 70 years of its existence in India and on the heels of PM Narendra Modi's visit to London.

Under this new agreement, British Council would be training 30,000 teachers in the English language in the state. The training will be funded by Tata Trusts, the Tata group's philanthropic organization. The council hopes to copy its initiative in Maharashtra to other states as well in the future, said Alan Gemmell OBE, Director at British Council India.

Welcoming the move "I am delighted to sign this MoU to signal our commitment to boosting this co-operation further- working together to improve the employability skills of our young people, the quality of teaching and learning in our schools, training institutes and higher education institutions and strengthening cultural collaborations," Chief Secretary in the Government of Maharashtra , Sumit Mullick, said.

After having a presence stretched over 70 years, Gemmell said the agency this year is looking forward to hear stories of people of how British Council in India has impacted them through its campaign 'Inspired by India'.

Background:

Over the last year, there have been 12 partnerships between higher education institutions in Maharashtra with the UK under the bilateral UK India Education and Research Initiative. Also, in the recent past, the agency has made its biggest ever investment in its Indian arm by awarding scholarships worth Rs 18 crore to 110 women across India that also included 14 women from Maharashtra. The scholarships will help the women with their education at British universities. Potential areas of Potential areas of collaboration between the council and the state include developing further initiatives to improve English teaching and enhance employability skills in schools and training institutes.