British Council, India, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Karnataka, Department of State Education Research and Training, Karnataka and UNICEF, India will extend their partnership English Language Teacher Education and Development programme in Karnataka for a further two years with the aim of improving the skills and competencies of a cadre of 1250 Master Resource Persons to support all English teachers from grades 1 – 8.
Mr Shubodh Yadav, State Project Director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Paul Sellers, Director South India, British Council signed an agreement on 02 July 2013 at the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan office in Bangalore.
The project is being supported by UNICEF.
Scheduled to begin in July 2013 British Council will provide face-to-face training to 1250 Master Trainers (Master Resource Persons) who will then provide in-service training and professional support to 2,17,852 elementary teachers impacting on the learning outcomes of students in government schools.
This project will help:
- build the teaching competencies and the English language proficiency skills of all elementary teachers in Karnataka standards 1-8
- enable teachers to conduct child-centred and child-friendly lessons in line with recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework (2005)
- enable teachers to teach and assess the progress of their learners in line with the National Curriculum Framework (2005) and the policy of Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE)
- build a cohort of 1250 Master Trainers with training and mentoring competencies to support in-service professional development of teachers in elementary schools across the State
- build a sustainable infrastructure to support in-service teacher training and continuous professional development of English teachers that can provide a model for other subject disciplines and other bodies.
This is the fourth year of British Council’s involvement in the State since 2010 in the area of English language teacher education and development. This project aims to continue supporting the on-going development of in-service teacher training in the state by establishing a cadre of mentors and subject experts who will be responsible for planning and supporting regular continuous professional development and encourage a positive change in classroom practice in schools.
The interventions are based on the needs identified by the State Government of Karnataka and a needs analysis conducted by the British Council which revealed that the current English language proficiency skills of English teachers and teaching methodologies required strengthening to enhance delivery of child-centred and child-friendly classroom practice.
The State has been in discussions with the British Council to build both the institutional and systemic capacity of teaching, as well as develop parallel interventions through a number of different innovative digital channels such as TV, radio, online and mobiles.
Currently, the British Council is working in partnership with numerous state governments across India. These include Maharashtra, Bihar and Assam.
The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. We are a Royal Charter charity, established as the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. Our 7,000 staff in over 100 countries work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year through English, arts, education and society programmes.
The British Council is recognised across India for its network of 9 libraries and cultural centres. We offer a range of specialised projects in arts, education, exams, English language and society to audiences across India and more than 100,000 members. We also provide access to English language training and learning for both students and teachers, offer UK qualifications in India and enable opportunities to study in the UK.
We also manage prestigious scholarships and training awards, including the Jubilee scholarships, the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan and the Charles Wallace India Trust awards. Our English language teaching centres in Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata provide a range of general and business English classes, specialised skills based programmes and young learner courses. We work with a wide range of Indian partners in cities all over India enabling British and Indian experts to meet and collaborate and to nurture mutually beneficial relationships.
A quarter of our funding comes from a UK government grant and we earn the remainder from services which customers pay for, education and development contracts we bid for, and from partnerships. For more information, please visit: http://www.britishcouncil.in/. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through twitter.com/britishcouncil and http://blog.britishcouncil.org/.