With a contribution of £ 8 million from the UK Government, the Skills for Prosperity program focus on public schools of five states and should impact more than 4 million students in all regions of the country.

The British Government partnered with the Lemann Foundation, New Escola, Instituto Reúna, and the British Council to conduct the Skills for Prosperity program in Brazil. 

The project is financed by the Prosperity Fund, a British government cooperation fund that aims to reduce poverty and to promote sustainable economic development and gender equality in associated countries. The United Kingdom will invest millions of pounds to run the program in the country.

According to a survey conducted by the British Council in 2013, only 5.1% of the population aged 16 up had any knowledge of English. To face this challenge, the British government decided to join civil society organizations with recognized education expertise and knowledge throughout the process — from public policy development to implementing them in the classroom. 

The Skills for Prosperity program is a global initiative from the UK Government, currently under implementation in nine countries (Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia). In Brazil, it will focus on providing access to quality English learning in public schools, from the perspective of English as a lingua franca (ELF). Several actions will take place, such as the development of regionally designed teaching materials, and the pedagogical training and linguistic improvement of teachers.

The program will last three years (2020-2023) and will benefit Final Years of Elementary School students, High School, and Technical and Vocational Education students by improving their English language skills. 

Skills for Prosperity will work towards a national reach. It will be responsible for launching the world's first Observatory for English Language Teaching, which will gather content, foster debates, and allow for the sharing of experiences and ideas that will improve language teaching.

The Skills for Prosperity program will be officially launched on December 2nd, Wednesday, from 4 pm to 7:30 pm Brazilian time, in a webinar that will hold discussion tables and present of the Observatory. The event is open to the public. More information can be accessed on the event website.

Photo credit: Joyce Cury