The Punjab government and the British Council on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to start an ‘English for Work’ course as a pilot project for 5000 students of government colleges in the state in order to boost their employment opportunities.

The MOU was signed by director, higher education Amarpal Singh on behalf of the Punjab government and managing director of British Council Education India Private Limited (BCEIPL) in presence of the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Education Minister Harjot Singh and Deputy High Commissioner of UK, Chandigarh Caroline Rowett. BCEIPL is the UK’s international organization for educational opportunities and cultural exchange.

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The CM said this MoU will pave the way for starting a training course for students of government colleges under the Higher Education Department in “English for Work.”

Mann said this will upgrade the employability skills of the youth of Punjab at the workplace and will help them to get themselves placed in the industrial and services sector.

He said it will also motivate the youth to stay within India and contribute towards the socio-economic growth of Punjab.

The CM said this is a step forward towards reversing the trend of brain drain from the state. He said as a part of this project, students will study one level of English for Work, more commonly known as English for employability skills.

Mann said that English for work is a blended course that focuses on learning English language in real work-like situations.

He said that it lays major thrust on all skills-Listening, Reading, Writing and speaking with a focus on Grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary.

Bhagwant Mann said that under the MOU, the project will be launched as a pilot project in the government colleges of the state for 5000 students from the Academic Session 2023- 24.

The CM said English for Work will be an online blended learning course that uses a proven ‘flipped classroom’ approach to combine the flexibility of self-study with live interactive classes.

He expressed hope that students will develop and upgrade their English skills to communicate with confidence in professional situations.

Mann said there will be a pre-assessment test to know the level of the student and a post-assessment on completion of the course and students will be given a certificate on completion of the course.