British Council to train 20,000 Maharashtra teachers

The British Council here will train over 20,000 secondary school teachers in Maharashtra develop English language proficiency and methodological skills over the next four years.

These trained teachers, in turn, would help improve the learning outcomes of the students of Class 9 and 10 in government schools.

The Maharashtra government and the British Council signed an agreement to the effect, the Maharashtra English Language Initiative for Secondary Schools (ELISS) agreement.

On the occasion, the School Leadership Development Programme was also kicked off under the newly-launched State CSR Initiative.

Addressing the gathering, Education Minister Rajendra Darda said that English is a globally accepted language and it was imperative for the students of the state to acquire command over it.

"Last year, under a similar programme, we have trained 67,000 primary school teachers to develop proficiency in English. This year, 550 experienced trainers would train over 20,000 secondary school teachers under the initiative," Darda said.

Present on the occasion were Minister for School Education Fauzia Khan, British Council Director (India) Sam Harvey, Maharashtra Prathamik Shikshan Parishad state project director A. D. Kale, Additional Chief Secretary for Education J. S. Saharia and other top officials.