The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship (PMGF) has been created to nurture outstanding talent and enterprise through international exposure to different countries and their way of life, cultures and business environments. 30 students are coming to India as part of this programme. out of the 100 who were selected to get a first-hand experience of living in India, China and Brazil.

These youngters will, during their visit, get an opportunity to learn about India's emerging economy, the impact of liberalization on India's economic and social transformation, the new environment for business and enterprise, its rich linguistic and cultural diversity and the demands for new skills required to harness the opportunities of the twenty-first century as the world beams into every classroom and household in the new information age.

Their stay in India is split into three distinct phases, with each phase lasting for two weeks. During the first phase, Culture, Contrast and Change, the Fellows will get an opportunity to learn Hindi, attend interactive sessions on India's rich cultural heritage, business environment, the education system, society and governance. They will also visit historical monuments, business units and other enterprising organisations.

The second phase - Family, Education and Aspiration - involves two weeks of placement in schools based in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore where Fellows would, besides getting to experience life in an Indian school, also get to visit other schools, HE institutions and training colleges to understand the education system in India. During this period the Fellows will be staying with families of the children from respective schools which will also introduce them to the Indian home environment, family values and customs.

The third phase - Business on a Global Stage - will see the Fellows attached to multinational British and India firms (Shell, HSBC, KPMG, etc) to get exposure to the operations, business environment, HR procedures, industry standards, their global mission and vision and also how the companies interact with the wider community for their Corporate Social Responsibilty (CSR) programmes.

The programme aims to build a network of young British people with a personal understanding of global citizenship and well-grounded insight into what it will take to contribute to and compete in this rapidly changing world.

The Fellows visiting India this year are all geared up for this "once in a lifetime opportunity" and look forward to learning loads of new and exciting things in a different country. As one of the Fellows, Kate Jenkins qoutes,"At first, my interest in the fellowship came from a love of languages and desire to travel, but I've realised just how much more the PMGF has to offer - I'm looking forward to getting a real insight into the culture - finding out a lot more about the corporate, and meeting some great people!"

Find out more information about the Prime Minister’s Global Fellowship Programme.

Read testimonials of participants of the PMGF programme held in India in 2008.