Imphal: The British Council has made a proposal to the Manipur government to work as a partner in skill-training of the state’s youths in accordance with the wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Theresa May after successful “orchestration” of the 2017 UK-India Year of Culture.
Country director, British Council India, Alan Gemmell, on Wednesday visited Imphal to forge a bond between the council and the Manipur government in English learning and focus on art and culture besides sport.
Gemmell met Manipur education minister L. Jayantakumar and they had a talk on teachers’ training and skill training of youths especially on conversation in English.
“The minister gave a green signal when I suggested to initiate the teachers’ skill-training programme that will be jointly funded by the British Council, DoNER ministry and the North Eastern Council. I will be meeting chief minister N. Biren Singh tomorrow before I leave Manipur,” Gemmell said. He said the teachers’ skill-training programme has been already launched in Sikkim.
Gemmell had met Tripura deputy chief minister Jishnu Devvarma on Tuesday on the same issues.
The British Council has completed 70 years in India. Last year, as part of UK-India Year of Culture and the ongoing celebrations for completing 70 years, it organized programmes called Premier Skills and Mix The City Northeast.
Premier Skills is an initiative run by the Premier League and the British Council. Earlier this year, the programme was held in the Northeast. Under it, phase one coach-education course in March this year saw 61 participants – including coaches at the grassroots level and physical education students from the northeastern states – joining the session. The participants received expert training from qualified Premier Skills coaches who provided them support to develop their community’s football projects.
Mix The City Northeast is an interactive music platform that help to explore the diversity of sound, music, cultural influences.
