British Council teams up with Mumbai First for educational, cultural projects

The British Council has joined hands with Mumbai First, an organisation that aims to enhance quality of life in Mumbai and its suburbs, to expand the horizons of education, tourism, arts and culture and transform Mumbai into a world class city.

Accordingly, the two sides have signed a memorandum of understanding to initiate projects and activities in education and culture – two areas that would have a profound impact on the citizens, reports quoting an official said early this week.

Under the educational initiative, projects will be taken up for enhancing teaching skills and improving quality at low-cost private English medium schools in and around Mumbai, besides professional development and language proficiency programmes.

The programmes to impart skills will include classroom education covering government (municipal) primary and secondary schools involving around 10,000 teachers across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The programmes will also be made available digitally.

Emphasis will be on developing leadership, imparting 21st century core skills of learners and quality of education. The new schools meeting the quality standards will be awarded for merit.

On the culture front, the focus will be on taking Mumbai's diversity to a global audience through ''Mix The City Mumbai Project.'' Thiswill feature recordings of performances by local musicians curated online.

Besides, the collaboration will work on installation of art works in public places across Mumbai and creation of multiple sites to involve people to become part of the city's rich musical heritage.

It is also planned to organise musical exchanges between the UK and Indian artistes, organisations and the public through collaborative projects designed to nurture talent and promote wider cultural dialogue.

"For almost 70 years, we have helped put education and culture at the heart of the UK's relationship with Mumbai. We are delighted that in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'UK-India Year of Culture', we can deepen our connections with the city through a new partnership with Mumbai First," said British Council's Director-India Alan Gemmell.

"The collaboration is in line with our vision to transform Mumbai and MMR into a world-class safe city, one of the best places to live and do business," said Shishir Joshi, CEO, Mumbai First.

Set up as model a public-private collaboration with the Tatas, Mahindras, Godrejs, and others as the original patrons almost two decades ago, Mumbai First aims to enhance the quality of life of the citizens of Mumbai and improve the economic and social fabric of the city and its surrounding areas.