Delhi Government renews three-year MoU with British Council for internationalisation of higher education, professional development of teachers, and to promote sports education and cultural engagement
Delhi Government’s vision is to create an ecosystem that enables students and youth from every strata of the society to access opportunities for education and upwards social mobility, to empower them as global citizens: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia
British Council and UK are our trusted partners in improving the quality of teaching-learning in Delhi Government schools, many joint projects have received international appreciation: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia
06 March, 2022
The Kejriwal government renewed its three-year partnership in the areas of education, English language and arts with the British Council for educational and cultural exchange. The aim of this partnership is to create global opportunities for the youth of Delhi. On Sunday, Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia signed an MoU with Barbara Wickham OBE, Director of British Council in India.
Apart from this, the Directorate of Education also partnered with British Council to promote sports education through the ‘Premier League Primary Stars’ project. Under this project, school coaches and teachers are trained to enhance their understanding of football best practices for holistic development. Along with this, it also plays an important role in the direction of inclusive and effective physical education, PSHE (personal, social, health, economic) education.
The MoU was signed in the presence of H Rajesh Prasad, Education Secretary of Delhi; Shailendra Sharma, Principal Advisor to the Director of Education; Vikram Bhat, Advisor to the Minister of Education; and Rowan Kennedy, Deputy Director of British Council in India, by Delhi’s Director of Education Himanshu Gupta and British Council’s North India Director Rashi Jain.
The Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia, said that the vision of the Delhi Government is to create an ecosystem that enables students and youth from all walks of life to access opportunities for better education and social mobility so that they can be truly empowered. He added that the Kejriwal government believes in the potential of international collaboration in education and culture; it can lead to breakthroughs in enabling education ecosystems,free exchange of ideas and energised youth, who are the future.
Mr. Sisodia also said that British Council and the UK are trusted partners for us, supporting in improving the quality of teaching and learning in the classrooms of Delhi schools; some of our joint projects like the Delhi Spoken English project have received appreciation at the global stage. As we enter this next phase of our partnership, we look forward to exploring newer areas of collaboration with the UK, for our upcoming sports university, teachers university and refreshing our ongoing school initiatives.
Barbara Wickham OBE, Director India, British Council, said, “We are proud to have renewed our partnership with the Government of Delhi, supporting their visionary plans to enrich the quality of teaching and learning in schools and the internationalisation of the education sector. Our joint initiatives have resulted in increased life opportunities for students and the youth of Delhi.”
She added, “Working alongside UK experts in education and culture, we look forward to delivering programmes that prepare students, teachers and youth in Delhi to best achieve their potential and expand their horizons.”
Areas of Collaboration with British Council
-> Extension of the Premier League Primary Stars project for educational development in Delhi schools, ensuring a 50% female participation.
->Joint development of courses by three universities based in Delhi in partnership with UK universities, leading to strong plans for TNE (Transnational Education) and teaching collaborations that meet global standards and enable credit comparability in the future for students.
->Enabling collaboration between UK education institutions and future education projects being led by the Delhi Government, in the schools and higher education sector.
Notably, British Council has a long-standing partnership with the Government of Delhi and supports initiatives such as English language learning, gender sensitisation and sports education in Delhi Government schools.