DIMAPUR, Oct 27 - A three-member team from the British Council India is on a three-day visit to Nagaland to develop new connect with the Nagas.
The team, led by its director Alan Gemmel, OBE, and accompanied by Dr Debanjan Chakrabarti, Director, East India and Joydeep Bordoloi, Head English Partnerships, East India, met Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang and interacted with a host of Naga musicians and entrepreneurs in Kohima on Wednesday.
Zeliang discussed possibilities of tie-ups with the Government of UK in the fields of education, language development, music, culture and tourism, a CMO release said.
Gemmel informed that the British Council sponsors more than 200 scholarships every year from all over the country to pursue higher studies in the Universities in the UK but that not many are from the North Eastern region and expressed his desire to see more students from the region avail these scholarships.
The Chief Minister suggested creating more awareness about this scholarship scheme among the student community of the region.
The British Council also proposed training of teachers to impart further training to other teachers. The Council is involved in Teacher Development Programme in 13 States in India and has shown interest in tying up with the Government of Nagaland.
The CM suggested incorporating Skill Development in the curricula of schools so that by the time students matriculate they would have some selected skills to rely on to earn their livelihoods.
Zeliang assured the visiting delegates that he would find out ways and means with the NEC to sponsor such a programme in the State and expressed his desire to go for human capital development.
The Council informed the CM that it is also into programmes such as imparting basic and proper English for tourist guides, adding English is the universal language.
Interacting with media persons, Gemmel said the Hornbill Festival 2017 will have a British connect with a series of cultural activities. The head of the British Council India would also attend the Festival.
�We are very keen to develop stronger partnerships with cultural institutions across India, particularly in the North East and Nagaland,� Gemmel said adding that 2017 would be the year for India and Britain to develop new cultural exchange programmes.
