PUBLIC STATEMENT
The Department for International Development (DFID) has announced that the contract for the new three year DFID Global School Partnerships programme has been awarded to the current consortium partners. The programme has been delivered by the British Council, Cambridge Education Foundation, UKOWLA and VSO since its inception in 2003. The new contract will run from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2012.
Current support to schools will continue , and in due course we will be announcing new initiatives to both promote an increase in the number of global school partnerships and enhance the sustainability of existing partnerships.
The world is becoming a smaller place with global issues infiltrating into every home through various information channels. The young people are preparing to embrace change at a pace faster than ever before. To do so effectively young people need to develop the skills to communicate and cooperate with an understanding of and tolerance towards other cultures and their impact on each other in shaping the future. The DFID Global School Partnerships (DGSP) programme is geared towards meeting these goals and challenges.
The DGSP programme aims to:
- Deliver successful, high quality educational, reciprocal, inclusive and sustainable global school partnerships
- Enhance the global dimension in school curricula by providing an effective programme of advice, support, grants, training and professional development to teachers and schools
- Provide opportunities to schools to jointly explore issues of international concern, to celebrate diversity, to build new community participation in the day-to-day learning and teaching experiences
Schools
- Enhancement of curriculum
- Celebration of diversity
- Capacity building opportunities
- Networking
Teachers
- Greater opportunities for professional development
- Sharing & learning from best practices
- Understanding global issues
- Developing open-mindedness and willingness to accept change
Students
- Exposure to new cultures, lifestyles & perceptions
- Opportunities to showcase talents & share achievements
- Developing leadership skills, communication skills, team work skills….confidence building
- Learn to appreciate similarities & respect differences
The DGSP programme is funded by the UK government’s Department for International
Development (DFID) and is being delivered by a consortium of four agencies.
British Council is responsible for the management of the programme and works closely with its partners including the Cambridge Education Foundation (CEF), UK One World Linking Association (UKOWLA) and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).
- The programme emphasises global dimension and citizenship
- It supports a range of schools including pre-schools, primary schools, middle schools, secondary schools, the government, private, aided and special schools.
- The programme has provided 932 Reciprocal Visit grants and 347 Global Curriculum Project grants globally between April 2003 to September 2008.
The deadlines for the Reciprocal Visit Grants are 1 May and 1 November every year and the deadline for the Global Curriculum Project grants is on 1 March every year. The application forms and guidance notes can be downloaded from www.britishcouncil.org/globalschools-grants.htm.
DGSP INDIA
A number of links have already been established between schools in India and the UK; currently there are about 200 schools with ongoing partnerships.
Since 2003, India-UK partnerships have been awarded 95 DFID Reciprocal Visit grants and 42 Global Curriculum Project Grants.
Click here to view list of schools in India that have received the grants in the year 2007-08.
INTERESTED
Further advice and guidance on the programme is available at the Global Schools website. Should you be interested in developing partnerships with schools in the UK, contact us at our British Council offices:
All-India Co-ordinator: Kanta Vadehra
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