Week 11

Magdaléna Giňovská 1. AAAb

THE BRITISH COUNCIL

The British Council is a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization based in the UK, which
specializes in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is a non-departmental public
body; a public corporation incorporated by royal charter, and is registered as a charity in England.

Founded in 1934, it was granted a royal charter by King George VI in 1940. Its 'sponsoring
department' within the United Kingdom Government is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The British Council says its remit is "to build mutually beneficial cultural and educational
relationships between the United Kingdom and other countries, and increase appreciation of the
United Kingdom’s creative ideas and achievements." Its overseas network extends to 233 locations in
107 countries and territories. It has a plush Headquarters in Spring Gardens, off Whitehall in central
London and in Manchester. There are smaller branch offices in Cambridge, Edinburgh, Belfast and
Cardiff.

Some of initiatives:

Teaching

There are 70 British Council Teaching Centers in 53 countries. Despite claiming to be 'the world's
largest English language teaching organization British Council is in fact dwarfed in this area by
private sector providers such as EF Education First - a firm with its Headquarters in Lucerne in
Switzerland which was founded in Sweden in 1965.

In schools in England, the British Council is working with the Department for Children, Schools and
Families (DCSF) to help three million children gain an International School Award to increase their
"understanding and appreciation of other cultures". There are now 2,700 UK schools working towards
an award.

Working Abroad

Within the UK the British Council administers the International Association of the Exchange of
Students for Technical Experience. This program operates in over 80 countries worldwide and offers
students, studying in the UK, the opportunity to take an internship as part of an international
placement working abroad.

The program accepts highly motivated undergraduates studying a technical degree i.e. engineering,
science, architecture or pharmacy, and are in their second year or above and have a strong desire to
work abroad in a paid, course-related internship. Placements typically occur for 8–12 weeks during the
summer months.

The program also offers employers the opportunity to hire high caliber foreign undergraduates. For
many companies in industries which are currently experiencing a shortage of graduate’s e.g. electronic
engineering, this can provide an important source of labour.

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Sports festivals

On playing fields, leadership and team-building skills by being involved in "Dreams+Teams" sports
festivals. The program has trained 5,500 "young leaders" and has reached 280,000 people in their
schools and communities. The British Council is expanding its activities to help more young people
prepare for "global citizenship". 'Global citizenship' remains undefined, however, and this British
Council term does not it seems extend to allowing its own staff working overseas access to
Employment Tribunals in UK when they are fired - an issue which former British Council teachers
have tested in the courts.

English for peace

"English for peace" is an important and growing element of British Council English language work in
Africa and other parts of the world. It works with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the
Ministry of Defense to improve the English language skills of military personnel assigned to
international peacekeeping duties through the Peacekeeping English Project (PEP). PEP is helping
prepare approximately 50,000 military and police service personnel in 28 countries worldwide for
peacekeeping mission duties. The Peacekeeping English Project is managed by the British Council and
funded by the UK government global conflict prevention fund.

Other activities

Cafés Scientifiques

In the UK and some other countries, the British Council runs cafés scientifiques, informal events to
engage people with creative ideas about science. They take place in cafés, bars and bookshops and
begin with a short talk from a UK scientist or science writer. Events so far have brought together
audiences from as far away as India and Malaysia to discuss the social and ethical aspects of issues
from Darwin to DNA, from global warming to artificial intelligence.

Young entrepreneurial awards

The British Council has joined in work on promoting the UK experience with the creative industries
abroad, including running a series of awards for young creative entrepreneurs worldwide such as the
International Young Publisher of the Years and International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year
awards