21 September 2017 The British Council officially launched its first English training centre in mainland China. With classes beginning on 20 October, the branch will initiate the British Council’s “myClass” English programme for adult learners in Nanjing.
An opening ceremony, attended by members of the British Council Executive Board and management team, British Consul-General Shanghai, and other key guests from the local government and academic and business communities, was held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nanjing to commemorate the occasion.
The British Council operates in over 80 specialist training centres globally and as co-owner of IELTS (International English Language Training System) works in partnership with the NEEA (National Education Examinations Authority) in mainland China.
In her speech to formally announce the opening of the teaching centre, the British Council Director, China, Carma Elliot CMG OBE, said, “This is a historic moment…the launch of our teaching centre in Nanjing marks the beginning of a new chapter in the British Council’s long history of partnering in education with Jiangsu province, while also opening new doors for individuals keen to learn English to support their ambitions for their study, their careers and other opportunities to them”.
MyClass courses and training centres already operate in Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Mexico, Vietnam and Indonesia, giving learners an official platform to learn the English language, gain access to British culture and enhance opportunities for young professionals to engage with the UK.
Director English and member of the Executive Board of Directors Mark Robson said, “Jiangsu and Nanjing have particularly international outlooks… We have plans to expand beyond our first centre”.
The British Council is a cultural institution that was granted a Royal Charter which promotes, “A wider knowledge of the [UK] and the English language abroad and developing closer cultural relations between the UK and other countries”.
The Council is a charity backed by the British government that promotes British cultural exchanges worldwide. A 2008 report written by the NAO (National Audit Organisation) advised the British Council to, “Demonstrate more clearly… how growth supports its mission and charitable purposes and that it does not represent unfair competition”.
However, The Guardian correspondent Max de Lotbiniere highlights that, “Private sector ETC [English Training Centre] companies view the Council as a dominant brand in the premium-priced teaching market, which [The British Council] derives cost advantages by operating in the benign shadow of Britain’s diplomatic presence”.
The new training centre is located in the Golden Wheel building in downtown Xinjiekou and offers flexible English courses that can be booked via an APP as little as 15 minutes prior to the class, focusing on authentic everyday English communication skills for workplace or everyday communication. It can be assumed the centre will target those looking to enter international study and seek further employment opportunities.
The British Council has had a presence in China since 1943 and now provides services in education promotion, English teaching and examinations, including IELTS and Aptis, and promotes partnerships in the arts, social entrepreneurship, teacher training and education.
Considerable work of late has been done worldwide and in China regarding artistic encouragement and exchange, such as the 2016 Shakespeare Lives campaign. This year, with a focus on youth, the British Council is bringing poetry on the metro to Nanjing, with a selection of 20 British and 20 Chinese poems. This promotion is due to launch in October 2017.
Along with deepening cultural understanding through the arts and teaching world class English, the British Council has been hard at work operating with various universities in Nanjing in fields such as research. “Joint research and commitments have increased greatly throughout the last year… Frontier technology working towards frontier solutions… Jiangsu is really at the forefront,” Ms. Carma Elliot, later said.
“We think we have a good thing [with myClass]… We plan to open another two centres in Nanjing and we have further plans to look at Jiangsu as a whole…[Jiangsu] is a major commercial drive”, Ms. Elliot went on to say.
Teaching staff at the myClass centre possess the same qualifications as other adult training centres in the area; while the curriculum varies slightly, it seems apparent that the competition for premium based English learning will be in the battle of brands.
