The British Council, in collaboration with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), hosted its second annual Schools Conference at the British Council, New Delhi.

 Themed ‘Enhancing Multilingual Pedagogy and Practice in the Classroom,’ the conference brought together over 270 educators, policymakers, and experts from more than 200 schools and institutions.

The conference was inaugurated by Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, and Chairperson, CBSE. Distinguished guests included representatives from the British High Commission, UK universities, CBSE, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Language and Learning Foundation, Regional Institute of Education, and English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU).

Aligned with India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE), the event provided a platform for sharing innovative strategies to integrate multilingual practices into classrooms. Through workshops, panel discussions, and expert sessions, participants explored ways to foster inclusive education, promote cultural sensitivity, and support cognitive development through linguistic diversity.

This initiative highlights the British Council’s ongoing commitment to supporting India’s education reforms and strengthening partnerships with CBSE and other key stakeholders.

Theme

Theme: Enhancing Multilingual Pedagogy and Practice in the Classroom

Sub Theme: Innovative Pedagogy and Curriculum Design 

The conference brought together experts to explore the best strategies for integrating multilingual education into classrooms, ensuring children thrived academically by embracing their linguistic identities. As emphasized in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, multilingualism fostered cognitive development and nurtured empathy, respect for other cultures, and languages—values vital in promoting an inclusive society.

Through engaging sessions, panel discussions, and collaborative workshops, the conference deepened understanding of multilingual pedagogy and developed actionable insights aligned with India’s educational goals.

Objectives

  • Share Best Practices: Highlight and share best practices in multilingual education and multilingual pedagogy aligned with NEP 2020.
  • Explore Innovative Practices: Discuss new practices in school education that align with NEP 2020 and NCF-SE, particularly in multilingual education.
  • Collaborate on Educational Reforms: Provide a forum for educators and policymakers to collaborate and drive forward key reforms in education.

Programme

    • Panel Discussions on innovative pedagogy, teacher preparedness, and multilingual classrooms.
    • Workshops on leadership, language teaching, and inclusion.
    • Plenary Sessions addressing multilingual learners and the challenges of multilingual assessment.

For a detailed presentations and speaker's bio, please refer to the download section.

Workshop (Breakout sessions)

  • Leadership and Professional Development in Education by Dr. Harry Kuchah, Associate Professor of Language, Social Justice, and Education, University of Birmingham
  • Innovative Practices in Language Teaching by Prof. Dr. Jacopo Torregrossa, Professor of Multilingualism and Second Language Acquisition, Goethe University Frankfurt
  • Inclusion in the classroom by Priya Iyer, Senior Academic Manager, British Council

For a detailed presentations and speaker's bio, please refer to the download section.

Testimonials

The conference managed to focus on several key issues of ML education. it also highlighted important next steps and all of us can form relevant groups and work on some or the other aspects and enrich the field as well as help CBSE to implement those actionable insights. Taking up research in some of the more important areas is in my view the first step. More importantly, teachers should be key players in the whole enterprise, not just receivers and implementors of ideas - Rama Mathew, English Language Teaching (ELT) consultant and retired Professor of Education from the University of Delhi

The most suitable and enriching aspect of the School Education Conference at British Council, Delhi was the discussion on Bhasha Sangam, an initiative by NCERT aimed at fostering multilingualism in schools. As someone deeply engaged in researching multilingualism and diversity in the educational process of schools in Delhi, this initiative strongly resonated with me. Attending this conference was a full-circle moment for me—not just because of my personal connection to the British Council but also because I could witness scholars and educators actively working toward the multilingual vision that I research. Seeing Dr. Dhir Jhingran speak was particularly inspiring, as his work on learning disadvantages and multilingual gaps has been instrumental in shaping my academic understanding.  This experience reinforced my belief in the power of multilingual education and strengthened my commitment to exploring language inclusivity in Indian schools through my research - Vandana Singh, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration

Conference Film

Watch this space for the conference film

For any further information or assistance, please feel free to reach out to us on India.Schools@britishcouncil.org

External links

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