The British Council Tanzania is committed to creating mutually beneficial partnerships between schools in Africa and in the UK through her Partnerships Programme. School Partnership is an umbrella under which all school – based partnership projects managed by British Council are sheltered.

In the efforts to reach more young people, promote internationalism and create a mutual shared learning between schools in the UK and Africa, British Council has decided to implement two new projects. Thes projects will be managed and funded by the British Council.

How will this happen?
Two clusters from Sub – Saharan Africa will partner with one cluster in the United Kingdom to form one partnership. Each cluster will consist of three schools, We will have 7 clusters, composed of 21 schools. The schools will link for intercultural dialogue, to increase knowledge and understanding of each other’s societies. It is hoped through this partnership, that 1.5 million young people in the UK and Africa will be reached over the next five years.

The aims

			To improve accuracy and perceptions of young people in Africa and UK about each other’s cultures, by funding collaborative curriculum – based projects, and training young people in leadership skills and cross cultural awareness.
			To create a platform for sharing professional expertise and experience with colleagues in other countries can enable teachers and principals to learn from other teaching approaches and reflect upon your own expertise.

What are the participating countries?
The programme involves the four countries of the UK, plus the following countries in Africa: Botswana, Cameroon, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

How will the partnerships come together?
The British Council will be holding a series of project planning seminars in the UK and Africa around September to October of the respective year. These seminars will allow for new partnerships to meet and start planning their project together.

How much funding is available?
The scheme provides funding to enable partner schools to work together, take part in study visits, purchase materials, and meet certain other associated with the project.

Each partnership is entitled to £15,000 per year, for up to three years. This might mean for example that each country cluster will use £5,000 each year, but it will be up to the partnership to decide how best to manage the grant.

How do schools get involved?
In collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, clusters of schools will be selected and asked to fill the application forms. The partnerships with clusters of African schools will be formed at the project planning seminars.

Eligibility

			The programme is open to schools in the UK and all the countries mentioned earlier.
			Schools must not be in receipt of funding from any other source involving joint curriculum work between the UK and Sub – Saharan Africa.
			Schools that are currently in receipt of a DFID Global School Partnership Curriculum Project Grant are only eligible to apply for this programme if they are in 3 of the project.

Selection criteria

			Commitment to working with a cluster of 3 schools in Tanzania and in partnership with 6 other schools from two different countries i.e. from two of the participating Sub – Saharan African countries and the UK,
			Commitment to building sustainable partnerships and working with the partnership for a minimum of three years,
			Commitment to educational goals as an integral part of the partnership,
			Commitment to working together in equity – based relationships recognising that every school has something to learn and every school has something to share,
			Commitment to the wider community.

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