With millions of hard working, energetic, techno-savvy and focused South Indians changing faster than ever before and when global interconnections are the norm, information and discussion on developments take place much more today between the peoples of the world. In this scenario, British Council has been at the forefront of bringing the UK closer to the South Indians and equally taking them closer to UK.
The main regional office is in Chennai and in association with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations is operating three centres known as British Library in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram.
Walk into the Chennai centre today and you can see young people engaging in a wide variety of activities – be it gathering information on educational opportunities at the information service desk or browsing through online databases or books and magazines in the library space, be it enjoying a riveting performance by an artist from UK, engaging in a video conference with people in other cities on various topics or be it simply lounging out in the lifestyle zone enjoying the free Wi-Fi internet access and chatting with friends. All this in an ambience which has been carefully constructed by an award winning architect, to give a feel and an experience of UK, right here, right now.
British Council is today engaged in providing both opportunities and fun based activities to the audience in South India, to cater to their growing requirements for self & professional development, English language skills, business communication programmes and international study opportunities apart from the exposure to various new facets of cultural engagements.
Educational co-operations have been increasing with more than 5000 students having proceeded to UK last year to study in various subject areas ranging from Management, Information Technology, Pure Sciences and Bio Sciences to niche courses like journalism, advertising and publishing. British Council through its online, on-site and off-site activities like the Education UK exhibitions has been providing quality information on the various options available in UK.
Today, India’s English language capabilities is a key cornerstone on which new & old economy sectors such as IT and ITES, telecom and manufacturing, are transforming the way the world operates. Working together not just with individuals but also small and large corporate and Indian governmental organisations, British Council has been bringing across the professional expertise in English Language Teaching from UK and engaging the audiences through trainer training, teacher training, quality certification of general, academic and business English skills, etc.
Environmental consciousness has been steadily increasing and increasingly people are now trying to understand, adapt and contribute towards the growing activities in this area. British Council has been supporting this in many ways – be it bringing in noted primatologist Jane Goodall to interact with students and their parents in Chennai or be it showcasing a special exhibition in partnership with the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre, called Zero Carbon City, which had participation from more than 80 schools across the city.
Over recent years, apart from taking information provision to the audiences in various parts of Chennai and other cities, British Council has also been taking experiences in various forms. A series called Buzz brought diverse performers such as noted spoken word artists like Roger Robinson, Patience Agbabi and Benjamin Zephaniah, moving films like Constant Gardner and one of London’s happening underground musicians - DJ Mark Kane of Def Inc. among many others. These performances were at various locations like Ascendas IT Parks and Taj Hotels in Chennai and Bangalore, giving a wide variety of people to engage with such diverse experiences.
Creative performers are one, managing the creative industries calls for a totally different expertise. Creative Future, a mentoring programme that intends to empower creative generators with entrepreneurial skills was developed by the British Council in partnership with Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB); Creative Industries Development Agency (CIDA); Commonwealth Business Council (CBC); and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE).The aim of the British Council’s Creative Future programme was to identify and nurture a new generation of Indian young creative entrepreneurs with exciting business ideas.
Yet another significant programme has been The UK India Education and Research Initiative. It aims to substantially improve educational links between India and UK ensuring in the longer term as we become each other's partner of choice in education. The three main strands of the initiative are – Higher Education and Research, Schools and Professional and Technical Skills. Recognising that success today is measured against global benchmarks of skills, knowledge and leadership, British Council makes sure it provides that crucial link between the peoples of India and the UK, establishing and engaging in strong committed mutually beneficial relationships.
Report by Anish Kumarswamy, Head Communications (South India), British Council
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