British Council, NEC sign MoU on educational and cultural collaboration

[caption id="attachment_211791" align="aligncenter" width="565"] Members of the British Council India NEC during the signing of MoU on Thursday.[/caption] Dimapur, Oct. 11 (EMN): The British Council India and the North Eastern Council (NEC) on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen educational and cultural cooperation and also support the knowledge ambitions and economic growth of the eight states of the Northeast. OBE Director British Council India Alan Gemmell and NEC’s Director (HRD & E) KH Siile Anthony inked the MoU. The overarching MoU celebrates the British Council’s 70th anniversary in India, in particular the rich cultural connections the Northeast has with the UK, and seeks to strengthen the relationship for the next 70 years. The MoU will support the higher education, English language, skills and cultural aspirations for the young people from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. Government school teachers and faculty members of higher education institutions would also gain access to English language learning, quality education and internationally benchmarked. The pact will work towards improving English communication of state civil servants, developing capacity-building initiatives in state governments, supporting improvements in the teaching of Mathematics and Science, capacity-building programmes for faculty and senior administrators of higher education institutions. It will seek to increase student and academic mobility for all eight states of the region, the statement said. “We’ve been inspired every day of the last 70 years by the artists, students, scientists and policy makers we’ve worked with in India and the North East. Our work in the last two years has started to make a difference – we created Mix the Cities Northeast, put the Himalayan Poppy as the central attraction of our India: A Billion Dreams garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, presented a brilliant musician at Ziro Festival of Music and we have trained 48 football coaches from all eight states, including Sikkim. I am very proud to have led our strategy to engage on scale, sustainably and consistently with this very special part of India, responding the vision that the Chief Ministers and the Prime Minister have about the Northeast,” said the director of the British Council in India Alan Gemmell “This year we want to inspire young people from the Northeast and India to build a relationship with the UK for the next 70 years. By signing a MoU with the NEC, we are able to make an impact across eight states simultaneously, and I hope it will enable more young people to realise their aspirations in education, skill development and arts and culture,” Gemmell said.