- Hosts activities for children on the theme of ‘Superheroes’ over the weekend (September 1-2)
- Pune library is now a cultural hub with a whole range of activities for students, families, young entrepreneurs with access to digital resources
Pune, September 1, 2018: British Council’s vibrant Cultural Centrein Pune celebrated its first anniversarywith a two-day events on 1stand 2ndSeptember. The event included excitingworkshops for young children of various age groups on the theme of superheroes. From storytelling with superhero puppets to learning ballet dancing to experiencing automated self in a robotic workshop; the weekend celebratedthe talent and creativity in kids. The event engaged around 100 children from across the city.
Speaking on the first anniversary, Helen Silvester, Director West India, British Council said, “We’re extremely happy to celebrate the first anniversary of Pune cultural centre. British Council has been inspired every day of the last 70 years by thestudents, teachers, scientists, artists and policy makers we’ve worked with across India. Over the past one year, we’ve witnessed this iconic library transform into a cultural hub, where people can learn, study, make things, take part in workshops and discussions and of course access our amazing collection of over 10,000 books and more than 115,000 titles online. The vibrant hub will continue being a focal point of opportunities for young people of Pune to succeed and contribute to the economic growth of India in the next 70 years.”
British Council organized a fun day for kids under 10 years by enabling them to show their Superhero spirit. It started with an exciting storytelling session allowing the kids to narrate story with superhero puppets and enhance their confidence level, followed by an introductory ballet workshop to help the kids create a new superhero. The writing workshop inspired kids to dream to become a superhero and show their creativity through words. The day ended with the screening of Frozen, an Oscar-winning movie, to help kids discover the superhero within.
The new Library and cultural centre features over 10,000 books, DVDs, popular UK newspapers and magazines, in addition to digital access to 115,000 books and 14,000 journals covering a wide range of subject areas. Centre members also have access to British Council’s online resources which include over 4000 national and international newspapers and magazines, independent movies, learning games for children, software training, comics, audio books and academic journals from JSTOR.
British Council recently partnered with Government of Maharashtra and is working with the government towards driving systemic change by building capacity and capability through continuing professional development of teachers and enriching teaching to improve learner outcomes. It has trained more than 100,000 teachers benefitting around 5 million learners, with a further 30,000 teachers across Maharashtra to be trained under a new agreement to be signed with the Tata Trust. Over the last year, there have been 12 partnerships between higher education institutions in Maharashtra with the UK under the bilateral UK India Education and Research Initiative.
Recently, 100 Indian women were awarded British Council 70th Anniversary Scholarships to mark the organization’s 70th anniversary in India. Out of the 17 scholars from West India, 14 women scholars are from Maharashtra who have received this prestigious award from British Council and were honored at the celebration. Scholars will be studying subjects STEM fields including computer sciences; biological sciences; and physical sciences.
About British Council:
The British Council is the UK’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.