British Council launches research on quality standards in Indian education

The Conference was being organised to bring together institutions and individuals who have a stake in promoting quality standards in education, particularly in private sector English medium primary and secondary education.

The objective of the conference is to advance the discussion around systems of quality assurance at the institutional level, to examine what can contribute to educational quality and to explore the benefits of professional association for English medium schools.

This will provide a platform to share India and UK experience and expertise in the area of quality in education, particularly school education.

Speakers include senior representatives from NCERT, CBSE, NABET, AI-NET, NCTE, IATEFL, English UK and Accreditation UK and the British Council. The British Council will also release and present a research report  on India's quality assurance landscape – what systems are in place and what is the focus of these systems.

The conference is part of British Council's Schools' Week – a series of events around the different British Council programmes and activities pertaining to schools.

The conference is a collaborative initiative designed to help schools who are interested in improving the quality of their English language education programmes of study. It is being attended by school principals and managers and other interested stakeholders in school quality standards.

At the conference Rob Lynes, Director India, British Council said, "Schools in India and the UK are concerned with providing the best education to their students. The aim of this conference is to advance the debate about quality standards in education, looking at current thinking and practice in India and the UK and what currently is happening in both countries to ensure quality. We hope the sessions will provide an insight into factors that can influence quality in classrooms."

The British Council's quality assurance programme for schools allows them to be part of the English Language Quality Standards Membership Network.

By going through the quality assurance process for their English language programmes of study, the schools can receive an independent and external recognition by the British Council of being quality providers of English language education.

They can showcase their clear and visible commitment to high standards for their current and future students through the use of the Quality Standards marque and becoming part of this exclusive network endorsed by the British Council.

British Council's Consultancy Service supports schools towards meeting the quality standards described in the Quality Standards Framework – an India-specific framework defines quality in relation to ten standards and five developmental stages.

Schools receive personalised advice and a customised online pathway of developmental resources from the British Council to create a platform for the continuous improvement of their English language programmes of study and improved learning outcomes for their students.

The British Council has been involved in the direct teaching of English for over 70 years. We operate a very successful network of teaching centres in almost 50 countries. The British Council assured the quality of its teaching centres through a system called TQS (Teaching Quality Standards).

Through Accreditation UK, the British Council accredited 550 UK language schools, international study centres, university / further education college language centres and Home Tuition providers.