British Council and educational
links
287. The British Council explained that it viewed
South Asia as a region "of high priority for the UK's public
diplomacy."[575]
It added:
In recent years we have increased our resources
to the region, and plan both to raise the level of impact in India
and move more resources out of our European operations to other
high priority countries in the region over the next three years
to enable us to tackle the issues of critical importance to the
UK's public diplomacy.[576]
288. During our visit to India we heard that the
British Council was changing its approach to in order to target
a younger generation of 15-35
year olds. It explained:
We plan to reach 0.75 million young people directly,
2 million indirectly, 6 million through remote reach via the media,
and 10 million through remote reach via the web. […]
We are moving from high volume programmes of
events to 'fewer, bigger, better' activities which make greater
impact and are more closely focused on the audiences we want to
reach.[577]
289. A key area of the British Council's work is
promoting study opportunities in the UK, with the UK's educational
ties with India estimated to be worth over £420million per
year.[578] The UK is
now recovering from a generation of students lost to the US, an
issue on which we reported in our inquiry into "The Future
Role of the Commonwealth" in 1996.[579]
In its 2005-06
annual report the British Council stated that:
"[f]rom low in the rankings India has risen
to be the third biggest supplier of students to the UK, with over
20,000 Indians now enrolled in UK further and higher education—a
figure we expect to grow by more than ten per cent a year in the
years ahead."[580]
Applications from Indian students to study in the
UK increased by more than 250 per cent between 2000-01
and 2005-06.[581]
290. However, competition from other countries remains
high. The US and Australia "are also seeking to expand their
ties in areas such as education, ICT and science".[582]
Dr Smith told us that "the UK's one big advantage is the
English language, although many linkages are increasingly being
transferred to the US rather than to the UK, such as education
for Indian students. In the past, many of the Indian elite went
to universities in the UK; in the future, the US will challenge
those UK advantages."[583]
291. The British Council stated that:
We conducted some 80,000 examinations on behalf
of UK examination boards, exposing many young aspirational Indians
to UK educational opportunities.[584]
During our visit we were told that the British Council
had worked with the British High Commission and UKvisas to produce
a DVD to help students with the visa application process.
292. At the 2005 India-UK
summit, the Prime Ministers announced the UK-India
Education and Research Initiative to improve educational and research
links between India and the UK. This pledged £10million of
UK government funding (through the FCO, Department for Education
and Skills and the British Council) plus corporate sponsorship,
with the aim of making India and the UK "once again each
other's preferred partner in education".[585]
The FCO explained that the Treasury had since given a further
£2million to the Initiative, the Indian Government £6million
and nearly £2million had been received in funds and in kind
from industry.[586]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, announced
the successful applicants in the first round of research awards
under the Initiative during his visit to India in January 2007.
293. We welcome the British Council's decision
to target more funding on South Asia. We also conclude that the
British Council is right to change its approach in order to make
itself more relevant to the new generation of Indians.
294. The establishment of the UK-India
Education and Research Initiative is very important for the UK
to maintain a strong position in the higher education market and
we recommend that the Government continue to work to strengthen
the promotion of bilateral educational links.
BBC World Service
295. The BBC World Service explained that it:
"currently leads in the international radio
market across the [South Asia] region, outperforming international
radio competitors in the majority of vernacular languages in which
it broadcasts. The total measured weekly audience for South Asia
is 41.1 million."[587]
BBC World viewing stands at 16 million in India which
is South Asia's largest market.[588]
296. In India, there are currently restrictions placed
on international companies broadcasting news on FM. This is important
as short wave is in decline in many rural areas. The FM market
is gradually being deregulated and the BBC World Service stated
that it expected restrictions to be lifted shortly. Consequently
BBC Hindi was
gearing up to enter the FM market in the main
cities in India, as soon as government restrictions on news broadcasts
are lifted. The BBC already has a foot in the door, via commercially-run
BBC Worldwide which has gone into partnership with a local FM
operator in Delhi.[589]
297. We recommend that the Government set out
in its response to this Report what representations have been
made to remove Indian restrictions on broadcasting news so that
BBC World Service can broadcast on the FW wavelength.
570 www.fco.gov.uk/ Back
571
www.dfidindia.org/ Back
572
Ev 172 Back
573
Q 165 Back
574
Ev 57 Back
575
Ev 170 Back
576
Ev 170 Back
577
Ev 170 Back
578
Ev 168, para 2 Back
579
Foreign Affairs Committee, First Report of Session 1995-1996,
The Future Role of the Commonwealth, HC 45-I,
para 120
Back
580
British Council, Measuring Success: Annual Report 2005-06 Back
581
Ev 176 Back
582
Ev 170 Back
583
Q 6 Back
584
Ev 170 Back
585
Ev 168 Back
586
Ev 46 Back
587
Ev 109 Back
588
Ev 138 Back
589
Ev 137 Back
