British Council and Tamil Nadu government partner to enhance English communication skills and teaching methodology
Chennai: British Council, UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, inked an Operational Alliance Agreement (OAA) today with the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women under the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Government of Tamil Nadu for the DDU-GKY scheme. The OAA signed by Smt S.Divyadharshini, I.A.S, Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women (TNCDW), Government of Tamil Nadu, and Ms Janaka Pushpanathan, Director, South India, British Council, aims to strengthen cooperation between the State of Tamil Nadu and the UK.
The OAA will facilitate the development of a sustainable solution to enhance the communicative skills of learners and teaching methodology of faculty under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) scheme. The programme will focus on government stakeholders and rural youth between the ages of 15 and 35 years who are the beneficiaries of DDU-GKY scheme. This is in line with the CM’s mega scheme, ‘Naan Mudhalvan’ launched in March this year, that aims to equip about 10 lakh youth across the State annually.
As part of the OAA, British Council will enable the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women under the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, the body responsible for the implementation of various centrally-sponsored, state-funded and externally-aided schemes for employment generation, women’s social and economic empowerment, among other key functions, to develop a special curriculum for training educators in collaboration with leading universities and higher education institutions in the UK.
British Council already works with the state of Tamil Nadu to deliver programmes aimed at improving English proficiency of the youth and faculty in the state, through other existing partnerships. Most recently, in August, British Council signed an MoU with the Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Tamil Nadu, to upskill government officers in English based on their level of proficiency. Promoting academic excellence through curriculum reforms and faculty training across higher education institutions (HEIs) in Tamil Nadu, is also a focus area to support internationalisation of HEIs in the state. This new OAA will be a new addition to British Council’s work towards setting standards in quality of teaching and learning English in the state.
The Hon’ble Minister for Rural Development Government of Tamil Nadu Mr. K.R. Periyakaruppan said “The State of Tamil Nadu and the British Council have successfully collaborated over the past 12 years. We have been working on extensive language development programmes for teaching and learning and programmes to build capacity in our universities. I am extremely happy that Tamil Nadu is the first state to engage with British Council under the DDU-GKY scheme. The specially customised training for the faculty will help them upgrade their teaching methodologies and deliver high quality English language learning. We believe that this initiative will allow the trainers to be more effective and deliver a high-quality education to students under the DDU-GKY scheme.”
Janaka Pushpanathan, Director, South India, British Council said, “The state of Tamil Nadu and the UK have had a long-standing relationship in the field of education and research. We are delighted to work with the state, yet again, to enable them to achieve their knowledge ambitions and economic growth by priming their faculty and youth for success with great communication skills, and by opening doors to new opportunities. This partnership will further support our existing initiatives and deliver enhanced credentials to the aspiring, young people of Tamil Nadu.”
Since 2009, British Council has taught English language courses to thousands of learners through its English learning centre in Chennai. Now, this initiative builds on the British Council’s work towards creating opportunities for students, and upskilling of faculty under the DDU-GKY scheme.