JackRussell
12 Nov 2018
Study / CELTA course in Poland: Kraków vs Wrocław [21]
Please note some corrections to the information above regarding the British Council and its funding and presence in Europe.
Firstly, it is not the case the British Council centres in Poland are 'autonomous' - they are still very much a part of the BC network and overseen by their HQ in the UK. The Polish centres took on 'Foundation' status a number of years back simply for legal purposes, due to this status having certain advantages in the context of Poland. Similar changes in status have happened in many other countries, but this hasn't changed the fact that they are still firmly within the BC network and all regions still receive a percentage of funding from the UK government (although this funding is decreasing over time - see below).
Secondly, it is also not the case that "BC stopped funding the Polish branch" (this is based on a possible misunderstanding of how BC operates). The fact is that funding of BC overall has indeed reduced in terms of that portion of funding that had been sourced from HM Government - in other words, overall funding of BC from state coffers has decreased over the last two decades with BC doing more to be self-funded and less reliant on UK Government support.
Here is a quote from their website: britishcouncil.pl/en/about/history
As of 1 April 2014 British Council in Poland is represented by Fundacja British Council.
On 16 September 2015 the British Council has opened its new location in Warsaw. After almost 70 years of operating in Aleje Jerozolimskie British Council has moved premises to a more customer friendly and modern building at Koszykowa 54.
The new British Council Teaching and Examinations centre's design creates a sense of space and openness. It is equipped with more classrooms for learners of English, and technologies which support learning. A computer-based testing room is available for examination candidates.
You can find some sources for much of this here but I encourage you to Google for more:
britishcouncil.pl
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Council#
museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/05092017-british-council-work-with-developed-countries-under-review
Please note some corrections to the information above regarding the British Council and its funding and presence in Europe.
Firstly, it is not the case the British Council centres in Poland are 'autonomous' - they are still very much a part of the BC network and overseen by their HQ in the UK. The Polish centres took on 'Foundation' status a number of years back simply for legal purposes, due to this status having certain advantages in the context of Poland. Similar changes in status have happened in many other countries, but this hasn't changed the fact that they are still firmly within the BC network and all regions still receive a percentage of funding from the UK government (although this funding is decreasing over time - see below).
Secondly, it is also not the case that "BC stopped funding the Polish branch" (this is based on a possible misunderstanding of how BC operates). The fact is that funding of BC overall has indeed reduced in terms of that portion of funding that had been sourced from HM Government - in other words, overall funding of BC from state coffers has decreased over the last two decades with BC doing more to be self-funded and less reliant on UK Government support.
Here is a quote from their website: britishcouncil.pl/en/about/history
As of 1 April 2014 British Council in Poland is represented by Fundacja British Council.
On 16 September 2015 the British Council has opened its new location in Warsaw. After almost 70 years of operating in Aleje Jerozolimskie British Council has moved premises to a more customer friendly and modern building at Koszykowa 54.
The new British Council Teaching and Examinations centre's design creates a sense of space and openness. It is equipped with more classrooms for learners of English, and technologies which support learning. A computer-based testing room is available for examination candidates.
You can find some sources for much of this here but I encourage you to Google for more:
britishcouncil.pl
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Council#
museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/05092017-british-council-work-with-developed-countries-under-review