The British Council is synonymous with quality and is a brand that the competitor fears,” said Paul Biswas, founder and director of Project Headway.
Bangladesh is one of the largest markets for IELTS in Asia and IELTS registration points play a vital role in its success. These registration points have a comprehensive understanding of the local IELTS market and hold a viable stake as they directly affect and could be affected by the British Council’s activities, services and associated performance. With an aim to achieve a definite mind-map of the current IELTS market situation, and better understand how the British Council and its registration points can collaboratively enhance their level of service, the British Council organised an event titled, ‘IELTS: Delivering Service Excellence through Partnerships’ on the 25 August 2016 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Attended by 36 representatives from 22 IELTS registration points, the event kicked off with a presentation on IELTS global updates by Director Examinations Bangladesh, Deep Adhikari. This was followed by a presentation on IELTS Scholarships 2016, the success of last year’s IELTS Scholarships campaign and how this campaign acted as a catalyst in increasing the number of candidates taking IELTS.
Kafil Chowdhury, Head of Business Development and Sylhet Centre commenced the final session of the event with a presentation on achieving service excellence. The second half of his session featured a stimulating group activity among the participants. The session concluded with an interactive question and answer session whereby the registration points put forward their concerns and suggestions.
The group discussed a range of interesting topics which include: future approach towards serving the customers, strategies for a collaborative ecosystem, the impact of stricter global visa regulations and current socio-political turmoil in Bangladesh, and the competition from PTE and TOEFL, to mention a few. Paul Biswas, founder and director of Project Headway, one of British Council’s IELTS associate partners stated: “The British Council is synonymous with quality and is a brand that the competitor fears.” On the other hand, Anindya Chowdhury, Director-Operations of Mentors outlined: “Reputed universities are increasing the required IELTS band score which in turn is causing students to study abroad in non-traditional destinations where the requirements are significantly lower.” The need to improve the internal market was also discussed and highlighted by Ameer Khan, Managing Director of FutureEd Bangladesh: “Scholarships should be introduced for the local market as well and not just overseas studies.”
All in all, the event was a success that provided valuable insight into the IELTS market in Bangladesh. The changing landscape of the market demands the creation of new opportunities for the entire ecosystem to tap into, through collaboration and innovation. This event served as a platform for the British Council and IELTS registration points to meet and discuss strategies for a collaborative and sustainable future.