The cost was equivalent to just two cappuccinos  per student. And what they walked away with — English speaking skills that would equip them to thrive at the workplace — would stay with them a lifetime. No wonder then that Chris Gibson, British Council Director for South India, was recently bowled over by college-leavers and faculty who were brimming with confidence and enthusiasm to speak English at a certificate distribution ceremony in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

This marked the end of the first series of English for Employability (EfE) courses, one result of many from a year-long partnership between the British Council and LIGHT (Lanco Institute of General Humanitarian Trust), a CSR initiative from one of India’s top business conglomerates.

In July last year, LIGHT, in consultation with colleges in Vijayawada and surrounding rural areas, selected 20 motivated college lecturers of English to become the first batch of Master Trainers to undergo initial training and mentoring by the British Council to enable them to deliver courses in English for Employability. By January this year, nearly 1,000 final year students have completed the EfE course and the number of lecturers trained in delivery has doubled to 40.

“The English for Employability progamme is appreciated by the staff and students who are involved. Such programmes are beneficial to students who are first generation learners from poor backgrounds. The programme, in its first phase, has achieved a great success,” says Sobha Rani, Lecturer in English, SRR &CVR Government degree college, Vijayawada. The British Council and Lanco are clearly making a difference to the lives of rural and semi-rural college students and their lecturers in and around Vijayawada, as part of the Council’s regional Project English, which aims to enhance the UK’s reputation as a source of expertise for skills development in English language.

Surprisingly, reaching out and making an impact in this corner of southeast India doesn’t cost the students, colleges, or UK taxpayer anything. Lanco, like many other large Indian employers, are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit graduates with good enough English speaking skills to be able to communicate effectively in today’s competitive global market place. As a result, the British Council was asked to conduct a baseline study, as part of a wider needs analysis, to establish the language abilities of final year undergraduate students and college lecturers in and around Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, and to share the findings with decision-makers. Lanco has subsidiaries and divisions across many industrial sectors, including construction, power generation, infrastructure and property development.

It became clear during the needs analysis that a gap existed between the students’ language knowledge and their ability and confidence to use it effectively. The need to increase exposure to everyday English, in contexts which related to the graduates’ future career plans, was voiced by all. The result was a themed language improvement course based on topics of relevance to job-seekers and focused on spoken and listening skills called English for Employability (EfE), with an overall aim of improving the employment prospects of college-leavers.

“The syllabus has been framed to suit the requirement of students in this competitive world,” says Dr T. Chenna Kesavulu, Principal Satavahana College, Vijayawada. The results are already showing. At the first job fair of the year, the number of EfE graduates getting jobs they wanted was very encouraging. “In reality, nearly 10 EfE trainees got selected in campus interviews for lucrative and dignified jobs,” adds Dr Kesavulu.

“English for Employability in our college is not only a mere number game but has yielded substantial results. So far, five of our final-year B.Com students who attended EfE, have been very successful in getting jobs in GENPAC, a BPO,” says V. Pawel, Lecturer, Department of English, KBN College, Vijayawada.

Initial results from a post-course evaluative study conducted by the British Council are also encouraging, with a marked increase in students’ perceived confidence in English speaking skills and an improvement in actual speaking skills, as measured against the Common European Framework of languages (CEF).

The EfE project demonstrates the kind of work the British Council is doing to reach out and help rural communities overcome problems such as high youth unemployment whilst also offering excellent value for money to our partners. The 48-hour programme in Vijayawada cost our partner the equivalent of only two cappuccinos per student. “Now, our students can stand in  the arena of competition with utmost confidence and come out with flying colours, thanks to EfE,” ends Dr Kesavulu.