PROFESSIONAL. JONESES BRITISH COUNCIL OFFICERS PRESENT BRITAIN’S IMAGE

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30629, 21 December 1964, Page 12

PROFESSIONAL. JONESES BRITISH COUNCIL OFFICERS PRESENT BRITAIN’S IMAGE

(By a Special Correspondent of “The Tirntt") (Reprinted front "The Times

When it was founded towards the end of 1934 the British Council ■was a poor relation. Now, 30 years later, it is a costly part of the machinery for representing Britain overseas. In its first year of operation its budget was a grant-in-aid of £5OOO on the Foreign Service Vote. The Estimates for 1964-65 provide for an expenditure of £10,686,000, of which more than £lom will be provided from Government sources. The British Cbuncil is a cultural extension of the Diplomatic Sen ice, with offices from Aden to Australia, from Cambodia to the Congo. In an age when the presentation of an “image” has become increasingly a job for the professional Joneses of all nations, the British Council is the organisation entrusted with that service for the British way of life.

The royal charter of incorporation granted in 1940 defines its role as being to promote a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language abroad. The choice of countries in which it should function and the scale of the operation are the responsibility of the Government (with advice from the council). The way in which the operation is conducted is the responsibility of the council (in consultation with the Government). In practice, according to Sir Paul Sinker, the director-general, this division works smoothly, although as he remarked: “The overseas departments of state —the Foreign Office and Commonwealth Relations Office—tend to take a shorterterm view than we do.” Progress Uneven Progress during the first 30 years has not been even. As “The British Council Report, 1963-64,” describes, there was after the war a period when the council passed through the doldrums of financial retrenchment and its survival was in doubt. In 1956 the doubts were resolved and recruitment of career staff—suspended since 1948—was restarted.

Many people have, not without reason, poked fun at the British Council. It has been portrayed as a group of longhaired intellectuals, earnestly taking Morris dancers to tour Africa or poets to Greece. It has been attacked in sections of the press. Under today’s conditions the long-haired intellectuals are at a definite disadvantage. The old criticism would be less valid now than the fear that administrative routine may leave the council’s representative insufficient time for intellectual pursuits and for making an impact among the intellectuals of the country in which he works.

Since 1954 the emphasis has increasingly been on educational work in the developing countries, in which 80 per cent of the 500 London-appointed foreignserving staff are based. Because of this concentration on developing countries the council is, Sir Paul Sinker claims, “far more utilitarian than it used to be.” In recruiting staff, he is looking

for "the. chap with a bent for educational work who is capable of being an administrator.” The more special interests he has the better. Some of the interests are unusual. One young British Council man. for example, Mr D. M. Waterhouse, working in Enugu, Eastern Nigeria, has represented Nigeria internationally at putting the shot. Danger Admitted The danger of a council officer becoming bogged down in administrative work, to the detriment of other things, is admitted in the report. Pointing out that an overseas office of the council should arrange lectures, discussions, films, music recitals, play readings and exhibitions, the report continues: “The scope and the standard of these activities are largely dictated by the availability of local talent and by the skill and enthusiasm of individual council officers, and also, it must be admitted by the time available after other tasks, to which the council now gives higher priority, have been performed.” The highest priority of all is given to the teaching of English. The demand is great and much of a representative's time is taken up in assessing the importance of the English language in the country where he is stationed, and reporting on how it is taught. A growing number of people with extensive experience in English language teaching are being recruited to fill advisory posts under the Aid to Commonwealth English scheme. At a different level the council is the overseas arm of Voluntary Service Overseas. Ultimately the success of any British Council work must depend on the personality and qualifications of its officers. Because they are not representatives of the British Government in the same sense as diplomatists, they are freer to make direct contacts with people in educational scientific, professional, and cultural circles. One good instance of the value of this detachment from Government is in Ghana, where, through all the recent vicissitudes of Ghana-British

relationships, the British Council has played an important and welcomed part in Ghana's educational system.

Priorities Arguable

It is arguable whether the priorities are right, whether in fact the teaching of English—valued because of its standing as an international language—should take precedence over promoting a knowledge of the United Kingdom. It is also arguable whether council officers all make sufficient efforts to remain independent of the diplomatic round of cocktail parties. Conditions of employment offer “a career comparable in stability to that of the established civil servant.” As an indirect result of the Plowden Report on the Overseas Services (Cmnd. 2276) British Council officers, like members of the diplomatic service, have had their conditions of sendee improved. But the council does not offer prospects so attractive, in prestige and money, as the diplomatic service. It does not pretend to, and emphasises that it is looking for particular qualities, and is not willingly a refuge for frustrated diplomatists.

The main article in the report describes the life of a council officer and shows it warts and all. It points out that much of the work is in countries where administrative experience on the part of local authorities makes life difficult, and where western amenities are lacking. The council officer's life is nomadic, and often he does not know long in advance where he will be sent next. Nor is he immune from the dangers of political upheave!, as the review of the past year indicates. The Indonesian Government requested the withdrawal of the British Council staff from Indonesia and “in March, 1964, demonstrations in Cambodia led to the destruction of council premises in Phnom Penh, but council staff were able to continue their work after evacuation of their families." Personal Views Nevertheless, for the annual intake applications from people with the requisite paper qualifications exceed needs by more than 10 to one. Some personal impressions of council officers, included in the report, suggest some of the reasons why people find the work satisfying. The officer “derives from his work the particular satisfaction that comes of being able to answer an appeal by giving what is wanted . , “Loss of leisure is largely compensated by the fascination of one's work; but I would not recommend a career in the council to anyone who valued their leisure highly.” Most graphic of all Is this account by an officer, aged 27, with three years' experience in Asia: “In what other career would one rub shoulders with one of the highest legal dignitaries of England and take him and other famous British visitors sightseeing, rewrite the proceedings of an inter-govern-ment conference ‘in English’ at local request be teargassed by mistake by the police, and be asked one’s opinion of bazaar notes for English students, starting with ‘Hamlet was a jolly fellow until his father was killed’?”