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Wooing youth, professionals

The British Council plans investment in India for activities and infrastructure relating to English Language Teaching

Chris Gibson

The director, South India, British Council, in conversation with G. Mahadevan, says the libraries will play an instrumental role in implementing the council's ELT strategy.

The British Council plans major investment in India for activities and infrastructure relating to English Language Teaching (ELT), said the council's director, South India, Chris Gibson.

Talking to The Hindu at the British Library here, Mr. Gibson said two consultants appointed by the council were touring the country consulting schools, college, universities and private firms, including those in the BPO sector, on the kind of ELT resources they were looking for. Once the consultants' report came in - by the end of October - the council would take a decision on the kind of investment required in the sector, he said.

This was being done in recognition of India's need to produce people with good communication skills to support the nation's rapidly growing economy. "In the private sector, people are very conscious of the need to have good communication skills. Somebody told me that in the next three to five years, there will be about 3.5 million jobs for people who have good communication skills in English... If there is no improvement in the teaching and training of English, these jobs are not going to materialise," Mr. Gibson said. The council's libraries across the country were going to play an instrumental role in implementing the ELT strategy.

The council was looking for partners, both in India and in the U.K., to successfully implement its ELT programme in the country. Following the signing of the U.K.-India Education Research Initiative last year, the council had received proposals from universities in India and in the U.K. for collaboration in the field of research.

Scholarships

The council was also in the process of broadening the appeal of the British Library by offering programmes to attract more youth and professionals as members. The Self-Development collection of the library that was being set up was but one such move in the direction. Scholarship schemes and various examinations offered by the council were also part of the package targeted at youth and professionals, he said.

In the coming years, the look and feel of the library would change. It would be a creative space with various activities relevant to various stages of life of the members.

"Today's children can watch television, listen to a favourite CD and play a game on the PC all at once." When that kind of crowd came to the library, it could no longer be a quiet place.

The council was focussing on few but big projects rather than on many small projects. The U.K. had many things to offer India in creative industries such as fashion and in areas such as Intellectual Property Rights. The council would also explore what it could do for U.K.-India collaboration in those areas.

A native of Bolton, near Manchester, U.K., Mr. Gibson served as the director of the council at Serbia-Montenegro prior to this assignment.

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