The British Council organised the second of its three IELTS Rewards 2018 events at the Rose View Hotel in Sylhet on Tuesday 23 January 2018. The event aimed to give an overview of the current IELTS market landscape and explore how the British Council and its partners can collaboratively work together to establish IELTS in Higher Education in Bangladesh.
Divisional Commissioner, Dr Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum graced the event as chief guest. Craig Ewan, Regional IELTS Business Development Manager, British Council, South Asia and Andriani Papapericleous, Director Examinations Services, British Council, Bangladesh also addressed the event.
The key highlight of the event was the British Council IELTS Scholarships 2018 which was launched on 18 December 2017. Attended by university personnel, educators, representatives from eight English Medium Instructed (EMI) schools, and over 50 IELTS registration centres, the event kicked off with a presentation on IELTS global updates by Andriani Papapericleous. She addressed how the test has been performing worldwide and where Bangladesh stands in comparison to other countries. Craig Ewan took the stage afterwards where he highlighted the significance of IELTS in higher education across the world and how the test can positively contribute to higher education in Bangladesh.
Dr Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum was next on stage to share her views on IELTS: “IELTS is much more than just an assessment to go abroad; it equips you with the modern English language skills you require to enter an increasingly global workforce.’’
Following on, Suman Banik, an English language professional and teacher at the British Council Teaching Centre, gave the audience further insight into how the skills assessed through IELTS. He added that IELTS can help at various stages of an individual’s academic life, and how this credible and incorporable standard could aid institutions across Bangladesh in terms of quality assessment of their future graduates.
The final session of the event comprised a presentation of the British Council IELTS Scholarships offerings for 2018. This year, for the first time, the British Council has also made this scholarship scheme available to students wishing to pursue higher education in Bangladesh. They are offering three scholarships worth BDT 300,000 (each) to study abroad and four scholarships worth BDT 150,000 (each) to study in-country. The scholarships are now live and will remain open for application till 31 March 2018.
The first IELTS Rewards 2018 event was held on 18 January 2018 at the British Council’s Dhaka University campus office. The third event is scheduled to be held on 25 January 2018 at the Peninsula Chittagong.
For more information, please visit www.britishcouncil.org.bd/en/IELTSScholarships2018