Download or read book The British Council written by Great Britain. National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The British Council has been flexible in moving its attention and resources to match new UK priorities, particularly in the Islamic World and the Far East. It continues to implement numerous and extensive internal changes aimed at increasing its effectiveness and efficiency, though delivery of projects and change has been uneven across its global network. The Council's approach to measuring its performance is well developed. Its scorecard shows positive results across most aspects of activity, including audience sizes, customer satisfaction scores, and the perceptions of stakeholders and partners.The Council increasingly depends on contributions from external partners and commercial sponsors, to expand its activities and impacts. This will mean reversing the downward trend in sponsorship and other contributions of the last six years. The Council has recognised the importance of good customer service, but it is not yet meeting the standards it sets for itself across the whole network. It also needs to implement a customer database to enable it to track customer contacts and better understand its audiences.The British Council's £181 million English language teaching and examinations business has a strong reputation and more than covers its costs. The teaching operation also supports UK public diplomacy, notably by helping overseas governments expand the teaching of English in their schools and colleges.But the teaching business has a high cost base, charges premium prices, and has limited reach outside overseas capital cities. Although there has been an increase in the numbers of students taught, the network of teaching centres has contracted in recent years. To continue to grow the business, the Council will need to put into action its ideas about alternative lower-cost ways to deliver good quality teaching.

Download or read book Proceedings of IAC 2019 in Vienna written by Group of Authors and published by Czech Institute of Academic Education. This book was released on 2019-07-04 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific articles form: International Academic Conference on Teaching, Learning and E-learning International Academic Conference on Management, Economics and Marketing International Academic Conference on Engineering, Transport, IT and AI

Download or read book Department for International Development annual report resource accounts 2009 10 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-02-03 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review the Coalition Government announced its decision to achieve the internationally agreed target of providing 0.7 percent of Gross National Income as ODA from 2013. This will involve spending an additional 2.5 billion pounds in 2013-14 to make the total DFID budget 11.3 billion pounds in that year. There will be a large increase in spending on fragile and conflict affected states and it will be difficult to ensure that every pound is well spent in such war-torn environments. When scrutinising DFID's accounts the MPs were also surprised to discover that the Pope's visit was paid for in part by money supposed to be for overseas development aid (ODA). The Committee expects a response from the Government as to what the £1.85 million, transferred to the Foreign Office for the papal visit, was spent on and an explanation as to how this was ODA compliant. The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) announced reductions in DFID's running costs to 2% of the total budget. If achieved, this would make DFID the most cost-efficient development organisation in the world.This is to be achieved by a large reduction in back office administration costs (which excludes front-line staff) of £34 million over the CSR period. The International Development Committee supports the proposals to make savings in back office staff, but the MPs are warning that Ministers must ensure that reduced administration budgets do not affect the ability to deliver aid programmes on the ground. While declining as a share of total costs, running costs will increase in real terms over the next four years because the total budget will rise so much.

Download or read book Public Diplomacy written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-04-07 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term 'public diplomacy' relates to activities designed to promote the image and interests of the UK overseas in support of the Government's objectives. The BBC World Service and the British Council are the main government-funded bodies involved in public diplomacy activity, and in 2004-05, they received £225 million and £172 million of grant-in-aid respectively. The Committee's report examines the work of these two organisations, in light of the recommendations of the review by Lord Carter of Cole (more details available at http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPageandc=Pageandcid=1007029395249) on the effectiveness of the Government's public diplomacy work, published in December 2005. The report makes 31 conclusions and recommendations, including the need for the Foreign Office to support an increase in the grant-in-aid funding for the BBC World Service so that it can introduce other television services such as the Arabic television news service; and that although it is appropriate for a Foreign Office minister to chair the new Public Diplomacy Strategy and Performance Management Board to ensure parliamentary accountability, this must not be allowed to compromise the editorial independence of the BBC World Service or the operational independence of the British Council.

Download or read book Departmental annual report 2010 11 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-04-13 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite the impressive performance of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in representing the UK's interests across the globe with what is, in Governmental terms, a particularly small budget, the Foreign Affairs Committee believes that the FCO is under-funded. This situation has been exacerbated by the Spending Review 2010 and the lack of detail provided by the FCO and the BBC World Service as to exactly how the spending reductions target will be met is disappointing. There are concerns about the steps taken by the FCO to adjust to its reduced budget: reductions in the deployment of UK-based staff overseas and the optimistic planned programme of property sales will have a detrimental impact on the ability of the UK to protect its interests overseas. The establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS) will place a further strain on the FCO's resources. The Committee welcomes the appointment of Lord Williams of Baglan to the post of "International Trustee" with responsibility for the BBC World Service, but reiterates its belief that a formal concordat governing the World Service's budget and output should be drawn up setting out the World Service's independence from budgetary pressures elsewhere in the BBC. The budget cuts faced by the British Council will lead to the Council becoming a substantially different organisation by the end of the Spending Review period. The greater emphasis that the British Council will place on commercial activity risks a diminution of the UK's influence and soft power.

Download or read book The work of the British Council 2008 09 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-02-04 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The British Council is the UK's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. Its purpose is to "build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide." As well as education, it runs programmes in the arts, science, sport, governance and English language in 110 countries and territories worldwide. 2009 marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Council. It receives Grant-in-Aid from the FCO for its public diplomacy activity: £209 million 2008-09, a 6% increase from 2007-08. The Committee concludes that the change in extent of data provided and the presentation of that data in the British Council's 2008-09 annual report makes it more difficult to track and evaluate the Council's performance over a period of years. In future the annual report should include fuller performance data, including corporate performance scores and reach, to facilitate year-on-year analysis. The recent decline in some of the scores achieved in relation to quality of service, particularly in that relating to engagement with decision makers and senior influencers, gives cause for concern. The Committee welcomes the Council's efforts to re-establish itself in Iran and Zimbabwe, its increased focus on China, and its progress in implementing NAO suggested administrative reforms (HC 625, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780102954173). 2009-10 will be a difficult year for the British Council and further cuts in staff and services may be unavoidable. In these circumstances it is important that the Council concentrates its activities on its core business and key objectives.

Download or read book Proceedings of MAC ETeL 2016 written by group of authors and published by MAC Prague consulting. This book was released on 2016-08-04 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Multidisciplinary Academic Conference on Education, Teaching and E-learning, Czech Republic, Prague (MAC-ETeL 2016)

Download or read book Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2007 08 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is the Committee's annual review of how the FCO is managing its resources, examining the departmental annual report for 2007-08 (Cm. 7398, ISBN 9780101739825). Chapters cover: new strategic framework; performance measurement; global network; essential services; FCO Services; personnel issues; transparency and openness; financial management; public diplomacy and communication; the British Council; the BBC World Service. The Committee is concerned that the FCO is facing serious financial pressures in this financial year due to the Treasury's withdrawal of its support for the Overseas Pricing Mechanism (OPM) which used to protect departments from the weakening of sterling. There is a risk that the FCO may not be able to meet higher international subscriptions over the next two financial years, causing its performance against Public Service Agreement targets to suffer. The likely increase in the UN Regular Budget and other international subscriptions will push this figure even higher. The FCO should have to shoulder the financial burden from within its already tight budget to pay for subscriptions which also benefit other Government departments. The Committee recommends that additional nondiscretionary costs should properly be met by the Treasury.

Download or read book International Cultural Relations written by J. M. Mitchell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-10-14 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, originally published in 1986, analyses and describes the significance of cultural relations in international affairs. It traces the beginnings of cultural relations in the 19th century and their evolution. Consideration is given to the nature and organization of global ‘cultural diplomacy’, with a particular focus on France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the USA. This book will be of interest to students in international affairs and modern history, but also to those working in government departments and agencies.

Download or read book Routledge Library Editions International Relations written by Various and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-08-05 with total page 2892 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 10 volumes in this set, originally published between 1959 and 1986, analyze the process of radical foreign policy change, explore Marxist-Leninist models of international relations, describe the significance of cultural relations in international affairs, highlight the changing nature of political communities and changing patterns of government and examine the interaction between the realms of ethics and international relations.

Download or read book Annual Report on Nigeria written by Great Britain. Colonial Office and published by . This book was released on 1949 with total page 1008 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Cultural Globalization and Music written by Nadia Kiwan and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-04-04 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about South-North, North-South relations between Africa and Europe, presenting the personal narratives of musicians in different locations across Africa and Europe, and those of the people who constitute their networks within the wider artistic, cultural, and civil society milieus of globalizing societies.

Download or read book Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual report 2006 07 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-19 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is the Committee's annual review of how the FCO is managing its resources. This year a key area off interest has been the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review because the Committee think it is one of the tightest in Whitehall and it risks jeopardising some of the FCO's important work. Apart from this the other subjects covered are: measuring performance; operational efficiency; management and leadership; FCO services; diplomatic representation overseas; transparency and openness; public diplomacy; British council; BBC World Service.

Download or read book The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language written by Alastair Pennycook and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-03-16 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covering a wide range of areas including international politics, colonial history, critical pedagogy, postcolonial literature and applied linguistics, this book examines ways to understand the cultural and political implications of the global spread of English. Including a useful mixture of theory, research and practice, this will be of use to advanced students of education, English and applied linguistics, for courses on teaching second languages, critical pedagogy, comparative education and world Englishes. It will also be of interest to students of postcolonial literature and international relations.

Download or read book Globalizing the Library written by Amanda Laugesen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-03-04 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Globalizing the Library focuses on the globalization of information and the library in the period following the Second World War. Providing an examination of the ideas and aspirations surrounding information and the library, as well as the actual practices and actions of information professionals from the United States, Britain, and those working with organizations such as Unesco to develop library services, this book tells an important story about international history that also provides insight into the history of information, globalization, and cultural relations. Exploring efforts to help build library services and train a cohort of professional librarians around the globe, the book examines countries in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific during the period of the Cold War and decolonization. Using the ideas of ‘library diplomacy’ and ‘library imperialism’ to frame Anglo-American involvement in this work, Laugesen examines the impact library development work had on various countries. The book also considers what might have motivated nations in the global South to use foreign aid to help develop their library services and information infrastructure. Globalizing the Library prompts reflection on the way in which library services are developed and the way professional knowledge is transferred, while also illuminating the power structures that have shaped global information infrastructures. As a result, the book should be essential reading for academics and students engaged in the study of libraries, development, and information. It should also be of great interest to information professionals and information historians who are reflecting critically on the way information has been transferred, consumed, and shaped in the modern world.

Download or read book The Bloomsbury Handbook to Cold War Literary Cultures written by Greg Barnhisel and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-06-30 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adopting a unique historical approach to its subject and with a particular focus on the institutions involved in the creation, dissemination, and reception of literature, this handbook surveys the way in which the Cold War shaped literature and literary production, and how literature affected the course of the Cold War. To do so, in addition to more 'traditional' sources it uses institutions like MFA programs, university literature departments, book-review sections of newspapers, publishing houses, non-governmental cultural agencies, libraries, and literary magazines as a way to understand works of the period differently. Broad in both their geographical range and the range of writers they cover, the book's essays examine works of mainstream American literary fiction from writers such as Roth, Updike and Faulkner, as well as moving beyond the U.S. and the U.K. to detail how writers and readers from countries including, but not limited to, Taiwan, Japan, Uganda, South Africa, India, Cuba, the USSR, and the Czech Republic engaged with and contributed to Anglo-American literary texts and institutions.

Download or read book Islam Nationalism and the West written by I. Malik and published by Springer. This book was released on 1999-06-03 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A growing interest in political Islam, also called Islamism, has assumed significant ideological and intellectual dimensions especially in recent years. Rather than viewing it as Islam versus the rest, or tradition against modernity, this volume, without overlooking the tensions, also acknowledges the mutualities. It centres on issues such as the Rushdie affair, conflictive pluralism in South Asia and its linkages with the crucial regional themes like the Kashmir dispute, Iranian revolution, civil war in Afghanicstan and Western public diplomacy.