Education Sector Reform including English Language Development

	Education and English Language Development


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Education is at the core of our work in promoting human development and economic growth. We are committed to supporting the enhancement of education in the countries in which we work through supporting initiatives that enhance access to and improve the quality of primary, secondary and tertiary education. We work in partnership with government institutions and civil society in order to strengthen education governance and build capacity and systems to attain sustainable education programmes. Our expertise includes: schools improvement; teacher development and training; curriculum development; education planning and management; and education policy and reform.

		Management, Administration and Planning (MAP) Capacity Development Design Study, Ethiopia: April to September 2010

Client: World Bank
Value: £98,000

The Government of Ethiopia and development partners recently launched an 8 year comprehensive quality improvement programme – GEQIP (General Education Quality Improvement Programme) to enhance quality of education in Ethiopian schools commensurate with the significant increase in access to general education witnessed in the past decade. The programme deals with a variety of issues ranging from curriculum to teacher education to textbooks and the management and administration of schools and the education sector as a whole. Given the enormity of the programme (approximately $1 billion), a comprehensive and detailed assessment of available capacity to implement GEQUIP and the implementation of a capacity development programme are central to the success of the programme.

British Council was contracted to lead the MAP Capacity Development Design Study. This involves

			1. assessing the capacity gaps at all levels of the education sector and its institutions,
			2. assessing impact of previous capacity development programmes,
			3. designing an appropriate capacity development programme to enable the successful implementation of GEQIP.

		Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN), Nigeria: 2008 - 2014

Client: DFID
Value: £84m

In 2008 Cambridge Education Limited and the British Council were awarded the contract for the Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN) which is expected to run for 6 years. ESSPIN’s mission is to have a sustainable impact upon the way in which government in Nigeria delivers education services. The goal of ESSPIN is to strengthen the institutional environment, so that the Government’s own resources are better and more efficiently utilised. There are 5 key elements that lie at the heart of ESSPIN:

			Long-term sector planning
			Institutional reform - to create capable and effective education sector institutions within Nigeria and improve the co-ordination between them
			Strengthen civil society’s ‘voice’ and relationship with government
			School/community development - increasing the autonomy of schools so that they become more responsive and accountable to local communities
			Sharing lessons learnt and good practice - ensuring that education reform efforts are shared at all levels of government

		Support to Education Sector, Eritrea: 2007- 2011

Client: EC
Value: £2.7 million

We are providing support to the Ministry of Education and the Project Management Unit (PMU) to improve access to and quality of basic education. The British Council team of long term advisers is working simultaneously on six core project outputs:

			Supporting the certification of basic education teachers
			Enhancing the professional competence of certified primary school teachers
			Pre and in-service support for basic TVET instructors established and implemented
			Overall curriculum reform and development supported
			Quality assurance strengthened
			National accreditation and evaluation system strengthened

		Rwanda English in Action (REAP) Programme, Rwanda: 2009-2011

Client: MINEDUC
Value: £250,000

The British Council is providing technical assistance the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) to enhance learners’ experience of learning English and of learning through the medium of English. Specifically, the adviser will assist MINEDUC to plan, implement and monitor activity during the first 4-year phase of REAP and will contribute to building MINEDUC's capacity to do this by:

			Assisting MINEDUC review and develop its overall English teaching strategy
			Supporting MINEDUC in the co-ordination of inputs and interventions to improve the quality of English teaching and the teaching of other subjects in English
			Collaborating with MINEDUC on options for teaching and learning materials, and on the use of appropriate media for promoting the use of English
			Ensuring that strong links are created between REAP and literacy skills being promoted in Kinyarwanda
			Assisting MINEDUC to identify training and capacity development needs in the Teacher Service Commission

		Capacity for Universal Basic Education, Nigeria: 2003-2008

Client: DFID
Value: £15.3m

The aim of this project was to develop capacities and systems to implement sustainable state programmes in 16 Nigerian states with the goal of increasing and improving access to Universal Basic Education. Among many initiatives, the British Council focused on enhancing State and Local Government planning, management and monitoring; and strengthening school management through community participation. The British Council also worked with Federal agencies and state ministries to improve the quality, accessibility and use of school and community education data and to work to improve HIV/AIDS awareness.

		English Language Consultancies, Ethiopia: 2009

Client: MoE
Value: £40,000

The British Council is contributing to education development in Ethiopia through two consultancies that will support the General Education Quality Improvement Programme (GEQIP), which in turn supports the Third Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP III): English Language Teaching Improvement Programme (ELTIP); and Schools-based English Mentoring (SBEM). The ELTIP consultancy focuses on improving English language learning in schools through the development of teacher training and trainer training programmes; the SBEM consultancy will assist MoE to develop a schools-based mentoring programme and a Trainers of English Mentors programme.

		English Language Improvement Programme - ELIP, Ethiopia: 2000-2008

Client: Ministry of Education / DFID / SIDA
Value: £0.5m

ELIP is a component of the Teacher Development Programme (TDP), an intervention of the Ministry of Education (MoE). ELIP’s goal was to improve the quality of teaching in the Ethiopian education system by raising the level of English of all teachers. To attain this goal, ELIP has combined international technical assistance, staff development and training for English language advisers, and a cascade model of training and materials development. Reflecting the importance of English in Ethiopian education, in 2006 ELIP was established as a separate department within the MoE under the name of the English Language Improvement Department (ELID). The British Council has undertaken a number of consultancies with the Ministry of Education to:

			support the development of a workable strategy to deliver the established language policy;
			support the continued implementation of the English Language Improvement Programme
			support the capacity building of the English Language Improvement Department (ELID)

		Technical Assistance to Department of Distance Education, Mozambique: 2002 - 2006

Client: DFID
Value: £1m

The project aim was to enable the Mozambique Ministry of Education and Culture to establish a Department of Open and Distance Learning in order to support the delivery of secondary and teacher education across the country. The technical assistance team worked with the Ministry of Education to develop and implement a work plan for the new department to support other directorates, especially the directorates of Secondary Education and Professional Development, to improve basic education, adult literacy, pre-service and in-service training. The technical assistance team provided training and support in evidence-based policy and strategy development, instructional design and materials development; financial and personnel management; leadership and management skills; research, feasibility studies, monitoring and evaluation and quality assurance; database and consultancy management skills.

		Expanded Scholarship Programme, Sudan: 2005 - 2008

Client: DFID
Value: £1.2m

The British Council managed the DFID-funded Expanded Scholarship and Training Scheme in Sudan through the award of grants to international and Sudanese NGOs. Beneficiaries of the scheme, 50% of whom were women from poor and conflict-affected areas, have received access to further education and training opportunities, including life skills, education, vocational skills and English language training, which are all directed at changing attitudes and building the country’s severely eroded technical and social capacity. The following grants were awarded and projects successfully implemented and monitored:

			6 international organisations awarded funds of $100,000 each via a competitive tender
			Further training funds ($25,000 each) were awarded to 5 local NGOs following an extended tender process and a proposal development workshop
			The Ministry of Heath, Ministry of Education, Science & Technology; Ministry of Animal Resources & Fisheries; Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry all submitted successful proposals for training up to £25,000

		English Language Project, South Sudan: 2005

Client: UNDP
Value: £200,000

British Council delivered English language training courses for the Government of South Sudan (GoSS), including 150 members of the Judiciary, and the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development. The training was commissioned by UNDP as part of their capacity building support to GoSS. The aim of the training was to develop the English Language ability of members of GoSS to a point where participants are able to carry out their functions in English. The programme was commended by both the Minister of Legal and Constitutional Development, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, leading to the British Council to begin working with GoSS on a training programme for a further 200 – 500 members of the Judiciary.

		Peacekeeping English Project (PEP), Africa (and global): 1996 - current

Client: UK Ministry of Defence, FCO and DFID
Value: £1.9m (Africa, 2005-2010)

The British Council has managed the Peacekeeping English Project since 1996. The purpose of increasing English speaking for peacekeepers is 4-fold:

			for "interoperability" - to enable multinational forces involved in NATO, EU and UN peace support operations to communicate effectively with each other.
			for humanitarian purposes - enabling military and other security forces to interact with non-governmental agencies in conflict and post-conflict situations.
			for border guards and police, to combat drug smuggling and human trafficking.
			as a tool for promoting democratic values and respect for human rights.

As well as managing its current projects, the Peacekeeping English Project meets requests worldwide to design and implement English language projects to minimise conflict. In sub-Saharan Africa we are working in Ethiopia, Angola, Mozambique and DR Congo training peacekeepers, interpreters, military and security forces to use English to support the national and international peacekeeping effort.

		Development Partnerships in Higher Education - DeLPHE, Africa: 2006-2013

Client: DFID
Value: £15m

The British Council is the Managing Agent for DeLPHE - Development Partnerships in Higher Education, a £3 million a year DFID grant funded programme to develop global Higher Education partnerships in support of the MDGs, specifically in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia. The overall goal of DelPHE is to enable HEIs to act as catalysts for poverty reduction and sustainable development. DelPHE aims to achieve this by building and strengthening the capacity of HEIs to contribute towards the MDGs and promote science and technology related knowledge and skills. It is anticipated that around 200 partnerships will be funded during the lifetime of the scheme. HEIs will be eligible to apply for funding from DFID’s 22 bilateral focus countries, including 14 countries in Sub Saharan Africa. To date, the British Council, working with the Association of Commonwealth Universities, has facilitated the establishment of over 120 North-South and South-South partnerships through three application rounds.