This Dialogue – the first of its kind involving India, Sri Lanka and the UK – will attempt to provide some answers to potent questions that have wide-ranging economic and social significance for all three countries. While lending a helping hand to the push for educational reform in all three countries, the Dialogue, which will have a highly interactive and participatory format, aims to identify common areas of concern and work out collective solutions. The Dialogue will also present the delegates and speakers an opportunity to network with peers and find out ways in which British Council can supportively play the catalyst role in bridging the divide.

The Dialogue aims to make that potential difference in formulating some concrete steps towards vital English language solutions that will enable India and Sri Lanka to realise their true potential, with the UK being an equal and supportive partner in the tomorrow we all envisage.

In an increasingly borderless and interconnected world, economic globalisation is a reality that makes even a jaded world sit up and take notice.

India is one of the countries that every other economy is looking at, sometimes with awe and sometimes with anxiety. With the Indian economic reform process in place for over two decades now, the services sector such as IT, telecom, ITES and hotel and tourism have shown sustained growth at never before seen rates. In this boom, a key factor, which is keeping many minds worried, is the human capital element – the workforce required to sustain and increase this economic growth.

With almost half of India’s 1.2 billion population below the age of 25, there is no shortage of a present or future talent pool per se but how many of them have or will acquire the required knowledge base and skill sets to sustain the momentum? While there are thousands of talented engineers and graduates emerging in the market every year, only a fourth seem to get readily absorbed by industry, especially when the demand for talented workforce is rapidly increasing. It is evident that employable, globally mobile skills can make a big difference in income generation and wealth distribution.

For three fourths of job-seeking people in the market, one of the key factors in not finding quality employment despite talent and academic qualifications is the lack of English language communication skills. Increasingly, employers are of the opinion that the present generic training and development of language based communicative skills is not effective and needs to be addressed. Academics are of the point of view that within the current parameters of education, they are doing the best they can to train their students on all aspects, including English language.

English is today, the world’s business language – it is the dominant international language in communications, science and technology, business, aviation, entertainment and many other fields. Noted linguist David Graddol said in his seminal report, English Next, “The role of education is now seen as to provide generic skills… in globalised economies, English seems to have joined this list of basic skills.”

In neighbouring Sri Lanka the scenario is not very different. In its January 2007 report, the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka stated, “Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Education says more than 60 per cent of the teachers in Sri Lanka lack computer and English literacy skills that are needed in a modern teaching environment”.

Last year the British Council conducted an in-depth study of the education and employment sector in the area of English language and communications skills in India and Sri Lanka. Be it policies, teaching/training and assessment parameters, learning and practical usage or be it benchmarking, there are many areas, in which the findings indicated an urgent need for educators and employers to talk to each other in a meaningful and practical way.

One of British Council’s key aims is to provide quality English language teaching, training, support and certification – from primary learners to advanced corporate users to academics. Teaching or certifying 1.5 million English language learners every year, globally, it is in a unique position to facilitate and support a dialogue. Given the massive scale of requirements from all stakeholders in the Indian and Sri Lankan market – education policy makers, academicians and trainers, learners and employers – British Council is organising the first ever dialogue that aims to bring together all concerned and formulate a viable solution that can support all needs.

For more information visit www.britishcouncil.org.in or contact anish.kumarswamy@in.britishcouncil.org