The government of Ecuador wished to make the teaching and learning of English in its schools more effective, and asked the British Council to help it implement a major new project: Curriculum Reform and Development for the Learning of English (CRADLE).

Client, stakeholders, partners

• The Ecuadorean Ministry of Education
• The UK's development agency (DfID)
• EDIMPRES, an Ecuadorean publisher
• Manchester University
• The College of St Mark & St John

Project focus
Improve the learning of English in schools in Ecuador through teacher training, text book production, and examination writing.

The project
The government of Ecuador wished to make the teaching and learning of English in its schools more effective, and asked the British Council to help it implement a major new project.

Ecuadorian ELT professionals worked with the British Council to shape up the project. A team of over 20 Ecuadorian national and regional project coordinators was selected and trained at UK universities. A UK-based project Director was appointed to organise an ongoing programme of trainer and teacher workshops, covering the whole of Ecuador.

The team produced a suite of six culturally and methodologically appropriate text books to be used in all state schools in Ecuador ("Our World Through English"), and organised related training.

The project also initiated work to establish national examinations in English.

On completion, the project was handed over as a successful, functioning programme to the Ecuadorean Government. The project involved and benefited all state sector school teachers of English, approximately 8,000.

What the stakeholders say
The Ecuadorean government's appreciation of this project was marked by its awarding to the British Council of their Order of Educational Merit (first class).

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