BRITISH COUNCIL

Britain's International Network for Education, Culture & Development Assistance

The British Council is an independent body partly funded through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It is an integral part of the United Kingdom's overall diplomatic, trade and aid effort.

The purpose of the Council is to promote a wider knowledge of the UK and the English language and to encourage cultural, scientific, technological and educational collaboration with other countries. Further details are available on the Council's World Wide Web site.


ACTIVITIES

Export promotion services for UK suppliers:

Representatives of British organisations and firms offering goods and services in education and training, science and research, books, information and the arts are invited to make use, free of charge, of the following Council services, which are available from most British Council offices overseas.

Introductory briefing on:

• The local structure of education and training, English language teaching, books, information and the arts
• The broad outline of host government policies in these subjects
• Local and international competition and demand for products or services

Information:

• Names and addresses of relevant institutions and individuals
• Guidance on where to find publicly available information
• Details of the local book trade and language schools
• Promotional literature can be held in the Council's offices

Charged services (e.g. interpreting, translating, placing advertisements in the local media, setting up a programmed visit) for UK suppliers are available on a country-by-country basis depending on overseas capacity.

The Council is also involved in a number of collaborative groups with UK organisations through which subscribers receive export promotion services. These groups include the Education Counselling Service (ECS), which has over 270 member institutions from higher and further education, independent schools and private tutorial colleges; English 2000 which offers services in support of English language opportunities.

Plans to develop export promotion services in the cultural industries sector are being developed.

Project management and contract work:

Development and Training Services provides a range of services which are tailored to the needs of clients and responsive to their terms of reference. They are committed to quality management and have earned formal international accreditation of their training management under IS0 9002. The services are:-

• Project and programme management by professional staff based in a global network of offices, experienced in modern project management techniques and equipped with a range of project management tools
• Project and programme design, appraisal, monitoring and evaluation carried out by acknowledged experts in a wide range of fields
• Feasibility studies and specialist consultancies which assist clients to identify technical assistance needs and provide expert advice and training
• Training in UK, in-country, or in a third-country, through the identification of training needs, the design of appropriate training responses, and training delivery: formal course, in-service events, workshops, seminars and visits
• Recruitment and management of specialist staff for overseas assignments
• Local in-country facilitation, providing logistical and administrative support overseas and access to individuals and institutions.

The British Council has recently launched a new service, the Global Education and Training Information Service (GETIS) which consists of a website on the education and training background in 60 countries, and a daily e-mail service with updates and news on opportunities for UK providers.


TYPICAL PROJECTS
Development and Training Services have extensive project management experience in the education, health and national reconstruction sectors and are currently implementing over 380 contracts in 80 countries.

BANGLADESH - English Language Teacher Improvement Project (DFID-financed) The project aims to develop competence and capacity in communicative English Language Teaching. A small group of ELT experts will support the Government of Bangladesh's team. The team will be focused on curriculum development, improvements to the training of teacher trainers and teachers and a reform program for the testing systems. Consultants have been appointed in the fields of teacher training and curriculum development as well as short- term appointments related to individual project outputs. The Council is additionally responsible for the procurement of vehicles and equipment for this £3M project.

CHINA - Financial Sector Training Scheme (DFID-financed). Secretary of State Clare Short launched this exciting project in Beijing. The project aims to develop the skills base of the Chinese domestic finance industry so that it can deal with the newly emerging demands of a market based economy. The focus is on financial institutions in Beijing, Guanghzou, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Over two hundred staff from the targeted institutions will be involved in UK based work attachments supported by complimentary UK and China based training. The Council is involved in the project initiation and marketing and promotion of the scheme

COLOMBIA - COLCIENCIAS - Training programme (Inter-American Development Bank-financed) - improving Colombia's human resource in science and technology through training throughout Europe of 190 Colombians currently working in the science and technology education sector. Services include academic placement, welfare and academic monitoring, programme and financial management

KAZAKHSTAN - Social Protection (Employment Services) (World Bank-financed) - development of employment measures through long-term policy development and advice to the Ministry of Labour, staff training, development of a model for coping with mass redundancies, improvement of the system of collection and analysis of labour market information, training and computer systems development. Services include identification and management of consultants, training and study tours.

KENYA - Strengthening Primary Education Development (SPRED) II (DFID-financed) - support to the Government of Kenya to improve the efficiency of primary education through improved quality and cost-effectiveness of teaching and learning in primary schools and to address equity by targeting the most disadvantaged areas. The Council is working as DFID's managing agent and has established a full-time technical assistance co-ordination unit to manage project outputs and co-ordinate inputs.

MALAWI - Health Reform and Decentralization (EC funded) The Councils concentrate its activities in the Health sector through links to education, governance and institutional development. This project is typical of that focus. The project is developing a new approach to human resource planning through the devolution of the management of health care provision in order to strengthened district authorities. At central level, the Ministry of Health and Population's capacity to implement its policies is being enhanced. The British Council's responsibilities include overall responsibility for direction and management of specialist advisers and identifying managing and administering long and short-term consultants

RUSSIA - Productivity Initiative Programme (EC) - support to the process of economic reform in Russia, the Newly Independent States and Mongolia by providing middle and senior managers from enterprises in these countries with training and practical work attachments in companies in the EU. The Council is providing overall project management, working with partners in Moscow and Brussels.

RUSSIA - Russian Presidents Management Training Initiative (KHF -financed) The project is part of the continued restructuring of Russian enterprises and concentrates on six priority areas. The Council works with ELT and Management Training subcontractors in the selection and training of over six hundred Russian Managers who are attached to UK host companies. This has the advantage to British hosts of having an improved understanding of Russian business opportunities.

SOUTH AFRICA - Library Books and Training for Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (EC) Seventeen Higher Education Institutions, are being targeted with text book procurement in science and business education. In addition library collections are improved to assist research, information systems are upgraded and staff are trained in administration planning and development The intention is to raise the quality of tertiary education in order to provide wider equality of opportunity.

TURKEY - Vocational Training Programme in the Tourism Sector (EC) We work on this project with our collaborators, Technical Assistance and Development Services Limited. This phased project aims to raise awareness of the importance of training within the tourism sector. The Council manages short-term consultancy inputs in specific areas. In addition it manages the study tours and procurement of equipment.

EXPERIENCE IN
EUROPE & CIS: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia (F.Y. Republic), Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Yugoslavia (ie. Serbia + Montenegro)

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA: Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

AFRICA: Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea (Conakry), Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

SOUTH ASIA: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

EAST ASIA: Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam

PACIFIC: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon islands, Tonga

CARIBBEAN: Barbados, Jamaica

CENTRAL AMERICA: Mexico

SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela

OFFICES ABROAD
The Council works in 228 towns
and cities in 109 countries

ASSOCIATIONS
The Council works in close association with UK suppliers and overseas partners.

The Council's Development and Training Services is a member of the
following consortia:
European Consortium for Primary Care
European Foundation for Educational Capacity Transfer (Effect)
Small Enterprise and Local Economic Development Association

SECTORS AND DISCIPLINES
Education: Distance Learning
Education: Education reform
Education: English language
Education: Management
Education: Schools / universities
Education: Vocational training
Healthcare: Operational management & management consultancy
Healthcare: Public Health
Healthcare: Staff recruitment, education and training
Tourism: Manpower, planning & training

SECTORS AND DISCIPLINES

EXPERIENCE IN