Submission from the British Council
1. SUMMARY
1.1 This evidence addresses the element
of the inquiry's terms of reference which refers to "the
effectiveness of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's work in
pursuing UK policy priorities—such as action against climate
change and the upholding of human rights—with these countries,
and in promoting diplomatic, economic and cultural links between
these countries and the UK (including through the work of UK Trade
and Investment, the British Council and the BBC World Service)."
1.2 This evidence sets out the key issues
as seen by the British Council as we seek to develop mutually
beneficial relationships between people in UK and Japan.
2. STRATEGIC
CONTEXT
2.1 Despite weak growth in recent years,
Japan remains the second largest economy in the world, and one
of the UK's most important trading partners. It is inevitably
a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions given the size
of its economy, but Japan is one of the most energy-efficient
of the major economies, mitigating this effect to some extent.
Given that the Kyoto protocol was originally agreed in Japan,
and that climate security is one of the focuses of the G8 meetings
in Japan this year, Japan plays an additional symbolic role in
this particular debate.
2.2 The relationship between Japan and the
UK is a healthy one, particularly at higher levels. For obvious
reasons, the Japanese imperial family prefers the UK's monarchical
model to the US republican one, while the two countries' mature
democracies, operating with bicameral parliamentary systems, have
resulted in broadly similar policy priorities and a great deal
of common ground. At grass-roots level, on the other hand, the
sheer physical distance between the two countries limits interaction,
and perceptions of the UK tend to be outdated.
2.3 Japanese education outcomes score well
in standardised tests, but in recent years there have been growing
concerns that the education system fails to promote creativity
and innovation, and that in higher education in particular Japan
is losing ground in a rapidly internationalising market. With
the shift of much of Japan's manufacturing base to cheaper locations
such as China, the need to move into higher valued-added areas,
and into high-value services such as the financial business, is
becoming ever more pressing, and education has a crucial role
to play here.
2.4 The English language is of growing importance
as the economy internationalises and shifts towards higher value-added
services, but here divisions of opinion among policy-makers have
been hampering progress. One problem is the time-consuming nature
of learning the Japanese language itself, and it is understandable
that Japanese policy-makers place a higher priority on this than
on English. However despite this, English language education is
likely to be made compulsory in primary schools in a few years'
time, and depending on the exact shape of policy, there is great
potential for the UK to establish itself as the leader in quality
English language teaching and linked areas such as exams and teaching
materials.
2.5 Another factor is that Japan's strict
immigration laws mean that the proportion of non-Japanese living
in the country is very low. As a result, the level of English,
especially spoken English, is generally poor, and this is particularly
true outside Tokyo. Given that English is the language of international
research as well as of business this is a contributory factor
to the poor performance of Japanese universities in international
rankings. Policy in this area has been inconsistent, with the
government offering subsidies to language school students a few
years ago, only to slash them later. As a result, the private
sector English teaching industry is in disarray, with student
numbers falling by around 30% yoy in recent months, widespread
complaints about poor quality, and the bankruptcy of the largest
company in the industry (Nova) last autumn.
2.6 In the arts, and particularly in the
visual arts, Japan is a world leader. Perhaps partly because the
Japanese language requires strong visual memory skills, the average
standard of drawing is extremely high among young Japanese children,
and this translates into a world leading position in manga (comic
books), anime (animated films) and computer games, as well as
enormous strengths in design and architecture. The size and wealth
of Japan's major cities (both Tokyo and Osaka are substantially
larger urban conglomerations than any city in Europe) supports
an enormous variety of cultural activity, on a par with other
major international cities like London and New York.
2.7 In international relations, Japan focuses
very heavily on the US. Japan was in effect occupied by the US
after the Second World War, and the continued presence of US bases
in the country has been another factor leading to close high-level
engagement. The rise of China in recent years is a major concern
to Japan, which likes to see itself as the natural leader in Asia.
Japan would dearly like a permanent seat on the UN Security Council,
and is increasingly concerned about the perception that politically
speaking, it punches below its weight.
2.8 Despite weaknesses in its universities,
Japan remains a world leader in technology. This is partly because
the best of its universities are still extremely good, and partly
because of the enormous spending in this area of its leading manufacturing
companies. The extremely demanding nature of Japanese consumers,
as well as certain societal differences, lead to many innovations
being rolled out in Japan first before reaching other countries.
Recently, for instance, this shows up in the use of mobile technology.
Given limited space in Japanese homes, and long commuting times,
younger people are increasingly not bothering with computers at
homes, and mobile devices are increasingly the standard for e-mail
and web browsing, with enormous markets having developed specifically
in this area.
3. THE BRITISH
COUNCIL IN
JAPAN
3.1 The British Council in Japan meets the
aspirations of young Japanese by creating opportunities in education,
English language learning and cultural exchange. The British Council
opened in Japan in 1953. A Cultural Agreement between Japan and
Britain was signed in 1960, designating the British Council as
the UK's official agency for cultural relations.
3.2 The British Council has offices in Tokyo
and Osaka, and currently employs 90 full-time staff in Japan,
including 37 English teachers. Total turnover for 2006-07 was
£7.0 million, consisting of £2.8 million in grant in
aid from the FCO and £4.2 million in contract and customer
income. Our teaching staff teach English to over 10,000 learners
a year, while we also administer exams for over 8,000 candidates
a year. Our websites in Japan attract 60,000 visitors a month,
and overall, we reach nearly 2.5 million Japanese people a year
in some way or other.
3.3 We work with our partners, both Japanese
and British, to showcase British excellence, innovation and creativity.
We are a major channel for the UK's public diplomacy in Japan—putting
Japanese people in touch with people in the UK. We work for the
benefit of the individual and for the mutual benefit of Britain
and Japan. The British Council also promotes UK creative endeavours
and industries and encourages links in the arts, science and technology
between practitioners and wider publics in UK and Japan.
3.4 The British Council seeks to influence
policy in education, and particularly English language learning,
and enhance the UK's reputation as the leading source of good
ideas and innovation in the sector. We work to present the UK
as a strong competitor in the international education market,
both as a value-for-money destination for those wishing to study
abroad and as source of high quality education services. We have
over 13,000 visitors a month to our sites promoting UK education,
and there are currently around 8,500 Japanese Higher and Further
Education students studying in the UK (as well as around 85,000
language students).
3.5 Given that English Language teaching
is likely to be made compulsory in Primary schools, the British
Council is working closely with Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology, Japanese Government (MEXT) to
influence the agenda here, with the aim of influencing the syllabus
and getting involved in teacher training. We are also building
links between UK and Japanese schools through which they can work
together on specific projects, learning about each others' cultures
in the process.
3.6 In higher education, there is enormous
scope for partnerships between Japanese and UK universities as
the former try to internationalise. Japanese universities are
also increasingly building in an overseas module to courses, which
increases their attraction to potential students looking to gain
language skills. We have used funding from the second phase of
the Prime Minister's Initiative to internationalise higher education
(PMI2) to hold symposia on relevant issues, giving opportunities
for university leaders in Japan to forge links with their opposite
numbers in the UK. In education, we have brought together over
100 UK and Japanese universities each year. At a recent symposium
we held, 31 of 33 universities participating said they expected
to forge new partnerships as a result. Given the importance of
the English language, the UK has clear opportunities here. Japanese
universities also have growing interest in the direct English
teaching the British Council offers on a full-cost recovery basis,
and we are currently working on models for "implant"
centres in Japanese universities, offering potential for high
impact at low cost. Meanwhile our school links programme created
new links between 82 schools in Japan and the UK last year, as
well as two links at local Board of Education level, and of course
supporting existing links.
3.7 The British Council is working actively
to stimulate the debate on climate security in order to increase
pressure on policy-makers to act. In the climate change area,
we recently ran a competition to identify 10 articulate schoolchildren
from across Japan who are passionate about climate issues. In
the short term, the focus for these young people will be on the
G8+5 Environment Ministers' summit in Kobe, when they will be
working with their counterparts from across the world to raise
awareness of the issues, and to add pressure on the Ministers
to work towards a meaningful agreement. But we aim to continue
to support these "International Climate Champions" in
a wide range of networking and media opportunities over the coming
years, while the planned introduction of the regional Climate
Cool project in Japan this year will further add to the mobilisation
of young people in support of action for measures to halt climate
change.
3.8 In the arts, our main focus will be
on the regional "Creative Cities" project, which focuses
on the importance of art and design in raising the quality of
life in urban areas, and draws attention to the UK's leadership
in this area. We will also be continuing to showcase the best
of UK contemporary art in Japan, helping to bring a more accurate
and up-to-date view of the UK to Japanese audiences. In this area,
the British Council increasingly operates as a broker, bringing
together artists, venues and funding sources, and minimising direct
use of our FCO grant.
3.9 There are several other areas where
we are currently looking at projects to increase UK-Japan engagement.
One obvious contender is sport, given the approach of the 2012
London Olympics. The fact that Tokyo is bidding for the 2016 Olympics
means that there is huge interest in London's experience, and
its use of the Olympics to revitalise an economically depressed
part of London.
4. THE BRITISH
COUNCIL WORKING
IN PARTNERSHIP
4.1 Japan is a rich country, and offers
scope to work with partners who can help with project delivery
and/or funding, allowing us to achieve more impact for our money.
We are now actively working to both identify partners interested
in funding our work and bring them into our planning cycle at
an earlier stage and ensure long-term engagement.
4.2 Similarly, in English teaching, we are
developing partnership models to reduce our costs and increase
our leverage. We are actively looking at ways to share teaching
facilities with, in particular, universities. These represent
an important target audience for our work, and their pressing
need to internationalise offers opportunities for us to work with
them in offering high-quality language training, not just for
students but also for faculty members. On the cost side, there
are clear potential savings from using the same classrooms for
university teaching during the day, and for British Council English
teaching in the evenings and on Saturdays.
4.3 We maintain close contacts with other
UK stakeholders in Japan, including the British Chamber of Commerce
and Visit Britain, and the British Embassy. We are working particularly
closely with the Embassy this year on the UK-Japan 2008 programme
to celebrate 150 years of diplomatic relations between the two
countries. We also believe we dovetail well with the Embassy in
our climate change work. The British Council focusses on mobilising
public opinion, while keeping an open mind about what sorts of
government action are appropriate.
THE REPUBLIC
OF KOREA
1. Brief introduction
1.1 This evidence addresses the element
of the inquiry's terms of reference which refers to "the
effectiveness of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's work in
pursuing UK policy priorities—such as action against climate
change and the upholding of human rights—with these countries,
and in promoting diplomatic, economic and cultural links between
these countries and the UK (including through the work of UK Trade
and Investment, the British Council and the BBC World Service)".
1.2 This component of the evidence sets
out the key issues, as seen by the British Council, as we seek
to develop mutually beneficial relationships between people in
UK and the Republic of Korea.
2. Strategic analysis
2.1 The Republic of Korea ("South Korea")
is a major economic power in East Asia, with a growth rate of
about 5% per annum, and trade relations with the UK are important
to FCO. As a major manufacturing base, and with a growing transport
sector, it is also a major and growing contributor to greenhouse
gas emissions and therefore a priority country for UK in terms
of climate security.
2.2 Strong relations within the Korean peninsula,
and with Japan and China, are crucial to Korea and of considerable
concern to HMG. South Korea is seen as largely a supportive partner
in international affairs and there are very few problems in the
bilateral relationship.
2.3 Despite its apparently robust economic
performance, internally there is much dissatisfaction with the
economic situation; youth unemployment is a serious issue, and—of
particular relevance to the British Council—there is a wide
perception that the public education system is failing to prepare
young people effectively for employment.
2.4 Education is therefore a major political
pre-occupation for the incoming government of President-elect
Lee Myung-bak, and particular attention is being paid to the role
of English in improving South Korea's competitive position. Meanwhile,
Koreans spend more per capita on private education, and send proportionally
more students abroad for study, than any other nation in OECD.
2.5 There is a lively arts scene in Seoul
in particular, with the current Mayor seeking to re-define the
city as a centre of creativity. Seoul will be the International
Capital of Design in 2010. Other urban centres see the arts as
an area of opportunity to promote themselves, with festivals and
biennales being a regular feature of urban life in Korea, together
with competition to hold major international events and meetings.
There is a strong feeling that Korea is not well enough known
in the international arena.
2.6 In international relations, and especially
in education, South Korea looks largely to its interest in relations
with the EU, which is now Korea's second largest trading partner
after China. As an English speaking country, the UK is seen as
a potential gateway to Europe, and an alternative to the USA for
overseas education.
2.7 South Koreans are increasingly conscious
of their relative inability to communicate effectively in English
and enormous sums are spent on evening language tuition in a huge
number of private institutes, known as hagwon. In the run up to
the inauguration of the new government Lee Myung-bak's team has
made frequent reference to its plans to improve the public education
system's performance in English language teaching, as a means
to reduce the expenditure on private language tuition as well
as to raise English standards across the board. The incoming government
has formulated an 8-point plan to build English competence through
investment in training and development in the public education
system.
2.8 South Korea is a leading centre of technological
innovation, with major electronic and IT companies constantly
pushing back the boundaries of technology in their sector. Use
of IT is widespread and broadband provision at a very high level
by international standards. Mobile and wireless applications are
moving forward at high speed. The biotechnology sector is also
advanced and active, with stem cell work continuing at international
standards despite the scandal in 2006 over faked cloning work
by an internationally reputed team under Hwang Woo-suk.
3. The British Council in the Republic of
Korea
3.1 The British Council in the Republic
of Korea was established in 1973. Our aim is to achieve recognition
of the UK as the source of the highest quality English language
learning opportunities and the latest techniques in language teaching,
and to increase the market share of the UK as a study destination
for young Koreans.
3.2 The British Council has one office in
Seoul and employs 29 country-appointed staff and three UK-appointed
staff. We employ 43 teachers, all of whom are on global contracts.
We administer 50 Chevening awards on behalf of the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (FCO).
3.3 Total turnover for last year was £4,590,000.
This was made up of £990,000 in grant in aid from the FCO
and £3,600,000 in contract and customer income and other
UK funding.
3.4 In 2006-07:
— 583,137 people visited our website;
— 6,944 people studied at our teaching
centre;
— 3,814 candidates took UK examinations
with us;
— 51 visitors were sent from here to
the UK through the British Council; and
— 4,500 students from Republic of Korea
studied in the UK.
3.5 The British Council is also focusing
on climate security as an area to promote. We work to promote
UK creative endeavours and industries and encourage links in the
arts, science and technology between practitioners and wider publics
in UK and South Korea.
4. Future work
4.1 There is a clear window of opportunity
for British Council to establish ourselves as a principal source
of support and advice to the new South Korean government in the
area of English education, and we intend to invest significant
resources in demonstrating the UK's leading position in this area.
4.2 The British Council has already begun
to leverage the reputation of our own English teaching operation
for quality and effectiveness and to build a range of networks
of influence. We plan to step up the pace of this activity significantly
in the coming year. This will give us opportunities further to
develop English teaching activities on a full cost recovery basis,
not only in our existing Seoul teaching centre but with new partners
and models of delivery.
4.3 The British Council, in partnership
with Seoul National University of Education, will shortly begin
teaching at a new centre in South Korea's leading teacher training
university. We are also working in partnership with Woongjin Thinkbig,
a local education consultancy, in provision of teacher training.
We have also brokered an agreement between Woongjin and Promethean,
a UK manufacturer of interactive white boards for teaching.
4.4 There is much concern about assessment
of English language ability in South Korea, with a strong reliance
on US benchmark tests such as TOEFL (Teaching of English as a
Foreign Language). We are working with research institutes to
develop local assessment tools as well as seeking to raise the
profile of the UK's IELTS (International English Language Testing
System) as the most reliable, internationally recognised, test
of English language communication.
4.5 In education, we have engaged the interest
of senior policy makers and influencers in through Connecting
Classrooms, a global British Council programme linking local schools
with schools in the UK. The result has been that Korean educators
have a renewed awareness and understanding of the importance of
a strong international dimension to the curriculum. This has been
reinforced by work with local education authorities on the development
of international links for Korean schools, and the Ministry of
Education has recently joined the DCSF/British Council global
internet portal for international education, Global Gateway.
4.6 South Korean Universities are increasingly
concerned with establishing themselves as globally competitive,
and are realising the importance of international contacts in
achieving this status. As part of the second phase of the Prime
Minister's Initiative to internationalise higher education (PMI2)
we have been working with UK and Korean institutions to develop
closer and more productive links. An example of this is a series
of symposia on relevant issues which are giving opportunities
to senior Korean educationists to forge links with their opposite
numbers in the UK. The British Council will continue to promote
the value of developing links with UK and build awareness of the
strengths of UK education for overseas study and trans-national
education.
4.7 Building on the British Council initiatives
in climate security we shall work with young Koreans and those
who influence them to raise awareness of the crucial importance
of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Our objective is to establish
networks of young people committed to acting and advocating action
to limit climate change. We shall work closely with the British
Embassy in Seoul and with Korean partners to ensure that the UK
is seen as a world leader in our approach to the climate security.
4.8 No cultural relations strategy for South
Korea would be complete without a strong focus on creative endeavour
in the arts and related areas. We shall participate actively "Creative
Cities" a British Council's initiative that focuses on the
contribution of creative industries, entrepreneurship, the arts
and education to improving urban life.
This will capitalise on Seoul and other cities'
interests in creative arts to develop sustainable links with UK
artists, designers, architects and urban planners.
5. The British Council working with partners
5.1 The very successful Seoul English teaching
centre allows us to deploy a high level English language professional
expertise which we can use in work with local partners and to
influence policy and practice in Korea. There are constraints
on how far we can re-deploy these people from their main duty
of teaching.
5.2 We have engaged with private and public
sector partners, particularly in English language work, to extend
the scope of our activity. An example is the English Adventure
Bus project, which delivers direct teaching and teacher training
in schools around Korea, which is largely funded by PCA Life Korea.
There is scope for further partnership arrangements in this sector,
and in education, and will seek to develop this model of working.
5.3 In all our grant-funded activity, the
British Council seeks opportunities to involve corporate partners
in support, thus delivering higher profile for their interests
as well as extended impact for the British Council. In promoting
UK education, we rely on the funding generated through the Education
UK Partnership and the large number of institutions which sign
up for special additional support specifically in Korea. The Prime
Minister's Initiative affords some scope for developing further
work with Korean and UK educational institutions in partnership
building.
5.4 We also seek to ensure that our activity
effectively complements that of the British Embassy and other
UK interests in Korea. In Climate Security, for example, our regional
project aims to secure the active engagement of wider publics
in combating climate change, while the Embassy is working on influencing
policy and engagement with marketable technologies. There is an
effective Public Diplomacy Committee which brings together stakeholders
from the British Embassy, British Chamber of Commerce, Visit Britain
and the British Council.
NORTH KOREA
1. Brief introduction
1.1 This component of the evidence sets
out the key issues as seen by the British Council that we seek
to address to develop mutually beneficial relationships between
people in UK and North Korea (DPRK).
1.2 Despite the many issues, particularly
around nuclear proliferation and DPRK's human rights record, the
UK has a policy of carefully targeted engagement; particularly
to improve the overall flow of information into and out of the
DPRK—working for positive change by introducing the country
to new ideas and models of society.
2. The British Council in North Korea
2.1 The British Council supports UK engagement
in DPRK from its Beijing office through its work in English language
teaching with the aim of building capacity in English to foster
future international engagement.
2.2 A successful example of this is the
British Council/Foreign Office jointly-funded teacher development
project which delivers programmes of teacher training and English
in three of Pyongyang's key universities. This programme, welcomed
by North Koreans, offers the opportunity for trainee teachers
to visit the UK and experience the UK first hand. This project
has the opportunity to extend its reach beyond Pyongyang and to
also focus on curriculum development, assessment and forms of
English for Specific Purposes.
2.3 The British Council arranges English
language training in the UK for mid-ranking DPRK officials from
a number of ministries giving future leaders and influencers exposure
to new ideas. The British Council is overall project manager for
both of these activities.
2.4 The British Council also manages the
Chevening Scholarship Programme on behalf of the FCO which currently
has one award in North Korea.
2.5 Currently the British Council's work
in the area of cultural exchange in North Korea has been limited
to providing advice on request. However over the last few months
there has been a growing interest by the DPRK with proposals for
tours of the UK by the DPRK symphony orchestra, and performances
in DPRK of British rock music.
12 March 2008
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