For one teacher it was an eye-opener, for another a touching experience like no other. For several of them it was the first time that they had had the opportunity to visit India and plenty seemed “fantastic”.

The search for a fresh look at their culture through another and a broader educational perspective brought eight head teachers from the industrial hub of Birmingham, UK, to the gateway of Northeast India, Guwahati in Assam recently.

For students and teachers from schools in Guwahati it turned out to be a unique opportunity to interact with educators from a city known for its ethnic diversity, for Birmingham has a high number of Afro-Caribbean and other ethnic minorities, including an ample Indian population.

With the aim of “Leading a culturally diverse school in the 21st Century” the group of eight – comprising one headteacher of a secondary school and the rest of primary schools – divided themselves into three smaller groups and visited 13 institutes, which included renowned and lesser known private schools, a state government school and a few special schools.

They seemed impressed by the level of knowledge of the students and their keenness to learn, although they felt that the learning was largely text-book driven and the schools provided little scope for students to carry out experiments and projects. They also observed that students aspired to become doctors, engineers, lawyers and acquire other professional degrees but did not aspire to become school teachers. This was not encouraging for the future of education, they commented.

This was the second time British Council Kolkata hosted an International Placement for Headteachers (IPH) visit. The IPH initiative is developed in partnership between British Council and the National College for School Leadership. The programme has been in operation for the last five years and, in that time, nearly 2,000 headteachers from primary, secondary and special schools in England have been placed on international study visits.

The first IPH visit to East India, in March 2007, where LA Wigan head teachers travelled to Kolkata and Jamshedpur, was so successful that it resulted in a UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) partnership between a cluster of schools in the area and UK.

In Guwahati, the reception that the headteachers got at each school was warm and welcoming. The visitors were invited to discuss and share opinions on several issues – ranging from the high teacher-student ratio to the varied teaching methodology – with their Indian counterparts. They also sat in on classes and chatted with students.

On their arrival, the group had been given basic information about the Indian education system and local schools. During their week-long stay they visited schools during the day and discussed what they had learnt or observed in the evening.

The schools they visited were, Faculty Higher Secondary School, Delhi Public School, Sanskriti The Gurukul, Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti, Pragjyotish English Medium High School, South Point School, Don Bosco School, St. Stephen’s School, Maria’s Public School, Modern English School, Gurukul Grammar Senior Secondary School, T C Government Girls’ HS & MP School and Shishu Sarothi.

On their last day in Assam, a small workshop was held to facilitate an exchange of ideas between the visiting head teachers and those from Guwahati schools. A lively openhouse interaction took place, where there were several requests from Indian schools to organise such trips for them as well. The concept of UKIERI was explained and those gathered were encouraged to apply for Cluster School Partnerships, where the Birmingham and Guwahati schools would be able to facilitate exchange programmes.

Mrigank Mouli Mukherjee is Manager, School Programmes in East India.