The British Council has expanded its programmes in the country by implementing several educational and cultural projects over these years. Paul Sellers, the new Director of the British Council for operations in South India, says that the council is keen on building relationships with a variety of institutions and people in India through its ongoing and forthcoming initiatives. In an interview to The Hindu-EducationPlus in Kochi, Mr. Sellers, who had earlier held senior positions with the British Council worldwide, elaborates on a wide-range of topics related to the council. Excerpts from the interview:
How good is the demand for U.K. higher education among students in India? How do you plan to tap the growing opportunities in the Indian higher education sector?
The demand for U.K. higher education keeps increasing every year. We had a 16 per cent increase last year. There are around 15,000 Indian students going to the U.K. [every year] to study the undergraduate or postgraduate programmes offered by the universities in the country. That is the number of students on our record. It is probably more than that. Interestingly, Kerala accounts for around two-third of the number. It is the biggest among the States. The largest number of students come from Kerala. We attribute this to the good school education and literacy.
Possibly the demand for courses in certain subject areas isnot met even though there are very good higher educational institutions in South India especially in health care and engineering.
And IT is also coming up. British Council institutions around the world have always had a mission to promote the U.K. as a higher educational destination.
Increasingly, we want to build sort of mutual links between U.K. universities and India. We make it easy for the U.K. universities to come and present themselves before Indian students by holding U.K. education exhibitions. We also work closely with the British High Commission so that they can give information on visa requirements, which is an important issue. We are conscious of the competition from Australia, South East Asia, and Europe. The U.K.'s niche is often the postgraduate programmes that complement the undergraduate programmes students pursue here especially in niche subject areas.
One of the ways forward is to link educational institutions in India and the U.K. so that students have a real choice where to study and from where they get quality education.
Do you think that the move by the Indian government to allow foreign universities to open shop here would pave way for the entry of higher education providers in the U.K. to India?
I think definitely there is an opportunity. The new legislation is a positive step forward. I see the U.K. institutions going for joint ventures in India. Some would set up their own campus. But I understand it requires a lot of investment. Some universities thrive on that — Middlesex, Nottingham and some others. They already have campuses in China and the United Arab Emirates running successfully. The reputation of universities is very often based on its locality or presence. The best option, the low-risk model, is to have joint programmes and exchange of faculty and students. And again here British Council intends to help by maintaining the contact with the Indian universities. We can put them together when institutes in the U.K. want to go for joint collaboration.
Do you think that the visa restrictions imposed by the U.K. government would impact genuine applications for higher education?
No, definitely not. There is no barrier at all in terms of the standard students who want to pursue a programme in the U.K. on a bonafide basis especially in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. What the U.K. government has done is to tie-up some of the loose ends in the legislation. It is a fact that some students heading to the U.K. for short-term programmes like language courses are not necessarily going for that sole purpose. We encourage students to come. The student with the right qualification is offered a place in the U.K. in the right institution.
What is your advice to students who are searching for data on the higher educational opportunities in the U.K.? How would they be able to identify fake agents and agencies?
They should go through the British Council web site (www.britishcouncil.org). We have a database of all the universities in the U.K. And this list is vetted and guaranteed by the British Council. It also gives a breakdown of the courses and subjects specialised by each university.
If you are lucky enough to be in a place where you have access to one of our U.K. education exhibition, you can talk directly to the representatives of the universities.
I think the vast majority of agents do a really good job, as they assist the students in finding their right course.
If their advice and data match the initial research you have done on the basis of the British Council web site, it is more likely that they can help you. Do not pay fees upfront without a written guarantee and a contract or paper work. I believe nearly a dozen agents based in Kochi have passed the British Council training for agents.
We offer them a special training. Another thing to do is to check whether they are accredited by the council. It is not mandatory. But it is yet another guarantee.
Could you elaborate on the ongoing ‘Learn English' project initiated by the council?
Project English, a regional initiative on English language teaching (ELT) and training, was launched in November 2007 with the commitment to provide every teacher and learner with skills, ideas, and access to the best resources from the U.K.
A target of indirectly training 7.5 lakh teachers in India from 2007-12 has been set. We have currently reached 74 per cent of the target. Since November 2007, we have trained 4,266 master trainers, 5,56,166 teachers and 28 million students through this initiative.
We are in the middle of a very productive contract with the Kerala government to train teachers of English in the public sector.
The methodology is to train a cadre of master trainers. In the past 18 months, we have trained 300 master trainers. They have trained over 6,000 teacher trainers. These trainers have taught two lakh students in Kerala so far.
We do have similar agreements with nine State governments including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Our aim is to get as close as to the end user — the student.
The council keeps a quality control over the programme. Considering the huge demand in India, our ambition is to become more high-tech with learning of English. We are now researching and investing in English through mobile phone technology and online programmes. Picking the right technology is the key.
One technology might be right for Europe but may not be right for India. Mobile phone market in India had outstretched. Our Internet provision is very good. It will help in increasing your capabilities in learning English. There is a whole range of free materials on the council's web site on learning English.
The focus is still on the teacher. There are very good teacher support materials on the web site.
We already have the Cambridge teacher training course. And we are looking for ways to transmit a similar course through television.
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