Source: mkd.mk.
This year the British Council celebrated its 20th anniversary in Macedonia. On that occasion we met Eleonora Zaprova, Director of British Council Macedonia in order to look back and summarize the activities that have been implemented. The interview with Mrs. Zaprova showed a number of fascinating results.
This year the British Council celebrated two decades of building cultural and educational links between Macedonia and the United Kingdom. In the last 20 years this organisation has been an esteemed partner for changes in education and culture, and has significant contribution towards building trust and understanding between the Republic of Macedonia and the United Kingdom.
Toni Dimkov: The British Council Macedonia just celebrated its 20th anniversary. What facts would you proudly share in relation to the celebration of this important anniversary?
Eleonora Zaprova: The anniversaries are always a nice opportunity to look back and reflect on the results achieved in the past. It is a challenge to summarize the facts from two decades of active operation of the British Council in Macedonia in just a few sentences. I’ll try to do that using several examples from the areas we are working in: English, education and culture and arts.
Since the very beginning we’ve been working with the Macedonian educational institutions trying to improve the English language teaching process in the schools and at universities. Over 60 percent of the English language teachers improved their teaching skills using our professional development programmes. Our free online resources for learning English are used by around 220.000 pupils and students.
The British Council is the global administrator of the oldest testing authority for English language – the Cambridge University and its Department for English Language Assessment for Foreigners. Today, over 20.000 people in Macedonia hold such diplomas.
We are actively involved in the reforms of vocational education and in the stimulation of the entrepreneurship among over 2.000 secondary school students.
Over 300 cultural professionals were involved in the development trainings delivered by consultants, trainers and organizations from the United Kingdom.
Over 200.000 people visited our programme activities in the area of visual and performing arts.
In the last few years the British Council has been intensively working on the development of interactive digital products in the area of music and film, including open online courses in a number of areas. With these activities we reached out to millions of people globally.
I would like to point out the significant number of important partnerships we have established with many institutions, organisations, companies, media and international partners in Macedonia, that we sincerely thanked in the course of the celebration of this anniversary.
TD: If we look back at the beginnings, what were the motives to establish the British Council in Macedonia some 20 years ago? Where did that initiative come from?
EZ: The establishment of the British Council in Macedonia is a result of the Agreement for cooperation in the areas of Education and Culture signed between the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and the UK Government. The motive is included in the actual Agreement: Strengthening and development of friendly relations between the two countries through stimulation, advancing and establishment of direct cooperation between individuals, institutions and organisations of the two countries in the area of education and culture. On the other hand, British Council is the leading international organization of the United Kingdom for establishment of educational and cultural links, so it got the role of an implementer of this Agreement by the British Government and opened its office in Macedonia.
TD: Throughout the years, British Council Macedonia became entrenched in the modern Macedonian society. What are the key processes that were initiated with the work of British Council Macedonia?
EZ: I think the right word to say is that the British Council is networked in the Macedonian society. Our approach is, above all, establishment of partnerships and joint activities according to the educational and cultural needs.
Specifically in education, our initiatives have always been about responding to the needs for changes and modernisation in the educational process, such as reforming of the English language curricula and introduction of digital content in the teaching process, reforming the curricula for vocational education in correlation with the labour market needs, provision of teacher training programmes.
In the area of culture I would emphasise the initiatives in the area of creative industries, creative entrepreneurship and inclusive design.
TD: What is the communication like with the British Council headquarters? Is there any cooperation with other regional British Council offices?
EZ: British Council is global organisation with offices in over 100 countries. The countries are grouped in clusters and regions. Macedonia is part of the Western Balkans cluster which belongs to a region that includes Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, the countries from the Caucasus region and Israel. The global programmes for English language, vocational education and digital products are part of the programme portfolio of all countries. The cooperation with the Balkan countries is the most intensive. The headquarters in London provide us with support by establishing cooperation with British institutions, organisations, artists and experts.
TD: How satisfied are you from the response of the Macedonian institutions, on a national and local level, in terms of activities carried out by the British Council in Macedonia?
EZ: In general, we have good cooperation with the Macedonian institutions and that, to a large extent, has been the key to success all these years. I think we’ve built a relationship of trust with the key educational and cultural institutions.
TD: In your opinion, what are the key reforms in the Macedonian education system initiated and implemented by British Council Macedonia?
EZ: Our activities in the area of education always correspond to the needs of the reform processes in Macedonia. The British Council is the global authority in the area of learning English and is a large supporter of continuous professional development of teachers. We have contributed in the key reform processes, such as the introduction of English language from grade one, introduction of the matura exam in English language, introduction of digital content in the teaching process and provision of professional development for many teachers.
In the area of vocational education, I would emphasise the contribution we have made towards the implementation of the Action Plan for the Macedonian Qualifications Framework and the project for reforms in the lifelong learning funded by the EU IPA programme.
TD: British Council Macedonia is especially active in the area of creative industries which make the United Kingdom the leading power globally. How much and to what extent are the British ‘recipes’ implemented in Macedonia?
EZ: The creative economy has been an area of research and development in the United Kingdom for more than 20 years, that is, from the moment when the British institutions did their first research efforts on how much creative industry contributes to the national economy and how many new jobs they create on annual level. The research results changed the attitude of the government institutions in terms of recognition, stimulation and support for these industries. Macedonia can follow the progress of Slovenia, Malta, Estonia – small countries that recognised the creative potential and support it systematically using some of the British practices for research, introduction of interinstitutional cooperation, funding of the creative sector and stimulation of the creative entrepreneurship.
TD: The culture and arts play an important role in advancing the cultural links between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Macedonia. What are the most important artistic events implemented with support from the British Council Macedonia?
EZ: I would focus on our work in the area of visual arts. This is one of the most important areas of work in the British Council and has also been the focus of operations in Macedonia and in the region in the last couple of years.
The power of the visual art has undeniable contribution to the work of British culture. Since 1938 the British Council has been collecting works of art, craft and design to promote the achievements of the very best British artists, craft practitioners and designers abroad. The Collection has around 8.500 works and is the second largest public collection of works of art in the United Kingdom. The collection has no permanent gallery and has been referred to as a 'Museum Without Walls'.
Two travelling exhibitions “Thresholds” and “Henry Moore – the printmaker” were part our programme, both implemented in cooperation with the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje. We finished the cycle with the introduction of the “New Religion” exhibition by Damien Hirst in June this year. In the same period, in cooperation with the “Osten” Gallery, we organised an exhibition and supported the development of a monography on British artists from the “Osten” collection.
TD: The most important events that were organised during 2016 by British Council Macedonia were the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death and the exhibition featuring works by the most relevant contemporary British artist today – Damien Hirst in the Museum of Contemporary Arts. Would it have been possible to organise these exclusive events without the support of the British Council Macedonia?
EZ: In the frames of the “GREAT” campaign launched by the British Government, the British Council organised the Shakespeare Lives global programme, which involved more than 140 countries. In cooperation with theatres, museums, educational institutions and artists, the Shakespeare Lives programme introduced new productions of Shakespeare dramas, movie adaptations, exhibitions and educational materials.
In Macedonia we implemented activities for inclusion of the young people in research activities related to some of the key topics in modern society (inclusion, equality and diversity, governance, justice and human rights), using the works of Shakespeare. We worked with 700 secondary school students and with over 200 university students and professors.
Our anniversary in Macedonia was celebrated with the exhibition of works created by one of the most relevant contemporary artists today – Damien Hirst. The works that used to be exhibited in a number of locations in Britain and globally were also presented to the Macedonian public. In addition to the provision of the content, we also provided financial and organisational support.
TD: In which direction do you intend to focus the activities of British Council Macedonia in the next years?
EZ: The focus of our work remains in the same areas and segments of operation. Here’s a small teaser - we will begin the new calendar year with the British film festival and the audience will receive more information soon. In the upcoming period, our office in Macedonia will manage the research of skills necessary in the cultural sector that will be carried out in the six Western Balkans countries. The support for creative entrepreneurs and cultural workers provided through our development programmes remains in our focus in the years to come.
In the area of education, in addition to the vocational training and the learning of the English language, we will focus more intensively on the use of new technologies in the education.
TD: How large is the team that implements the activities of the British Council in Macedonia and what is your personal satisfaction from the results the British Council Macedonia has achieved in these 20 years?
EZ: The office of British Council Macedonia is relatively small compared to other offices in the region and beyond. Our professional team currently consists of seven people working in the programmes area, administration of the exams and office management. This is a question I’m frequently asked about and often people are surprised that such a small team delivers such a variety of projects and services. It goes without saying that the team works with many local and international consultants, outsources services on a case-by-case basis and cooperates on a daily basis with partners in order to achieve success.
Speaking about personal satisfaction, it is a real pleasure to be able to work with a team of dedicated professionals who have invested more than 10 years of their professional life in the organisation. Our work is based on creativity, professionalism, mutual assistance, valuing people and integrity – these are part of our everyday life and the result from the team work is obvious. And that is the greatest satisfaction.
The interview was carried out by the award-winning journalist and author Toni Dimkov during December 2016. The photograph is by Ivan Blazhev for the British Council in Macedonia.