British Council Plans to Improve the Access to Quality Education, Skills and Qualifications in India

The British Council, United Kingdom’s international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations, has announced the launch of Primary Plus – its new course to improve English learning for children aged 7 - 10 years. The experiential program aims to enhance communication, creativity and leadership skills, helping children become more confident in all walks of life.

British Council has exclusively partnered with Aardman Animations, to bring these lessons to life with stories of Shaun the Sheep and Friends.

Primary Plus will provide children with a chance to interact confidently in English, through speaking, reading, and writing and participating in storytelling, singing, rhyming, games, craft, movement and drama.

In an interaction with Franchise India, Duncan Wilson, Director – Schools, English and Skills, British Council said, “Today children need 21st-century life skills from an early age to develop into successful and confident individuals. Employability in a highly mobile labor market is also an important part of that development.”

Expectations from the Collaboration with Aardman Studios

Wilson says, “Aardman Studio is an Academy Award-winning animation studio. Through this collaboration with them, we are using their animation character – Shaun the Sheep and their friends – in the Primary Plus course.

The characters are created to capture children’s imagination and deepen their engagement, making it interactive, experience based richer learning. The animation character aims to make the children learn life skills with Primary Plus thus making the entire course more enriching which wouldn’t have been possible without collaboration with Aardman Studios.”

Future Plans of British Council

Wilson elaborates, “British Council completes 70 years of its existence in India and we have been inspired by India’s teachers, students, scientists and artists. For 70 years, British Council has been committed to partnering India’s knowledge ambitions and has been working continuously towards creating growth platforms and opportunities for young people to succeed in India and globally.

“English proficiency plays a key role in allowing students and professionals to realize their potential and secure better opportunities. British Council has partnered with 14 State governments in India, as well as governments in many countries across the world for enhancing the English language skills of the target learners. In the coming 70 years also, British council will continue improving access to quality education, skills and qualification through various creative courses, workshops and sessions. The purpose will be to introduce courses that will be loved by our target audience catering to all age groups.”

Wilson mentions the following points on how the education space in India has evolved over the years:

o The education space is very dynamic and probably each child has his/her way of learning.

o It’s interesting to see how technology has advanced rapidly to transform the way students consume educational content. The penetration of smartphones is taking quality learning to students across geographies across the country. Digital devices, learning platforms and software are together creating new ways to modify education.

o It is our responsibility to innovate and create the best experiential learning for the children.

o There are new approaches to teach students within a classroom. For example, British Council trained teachers under the TOPDI project to use the flipped classroom approach to teach students. It  witnessed an overwhelming success rate.

o The vitality of education will remain and keep increasing as it helps in building the character of an individual. As teachers we need to continue to innovate and create the best channels for learning.