HSBC, British Council to provide English, IT lessons to 2,400 girls

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) and British Council virtually launched a new programme recently to provide English and IT lessons to 2,400 out-of-school girls in Bangladesh. 

Styled "English and Digital for Girls Education" (EDGE), the programme will use face-to-face and remote delivery models, said a press release.

The programme builds on previous EDGE programmes run by British Council since 2012 and includes new components, with senior girls being trained to deliver training to younger counterparts.

"(It will be) helping to give them economic opportunities and strengthen their voices…to make education more equitable and boost girls' life chances," said Robert Chatterton Dickson, British high commissioner to Bangladesh.

The project will reach girls in urban and rural areas, providing useful skills to help them thrive, said Md Mahbub ur Rahman, chief executive officer of HSBC Bangladesh.

The initiative coincides with British Council's 70th anniversary of operations in Bangladesh and Bangladesh's 50th anniversary of independence, said Tom Miscioscia, director (Bangladesh) of British Council.

It will create awareness of social issues among marginalised women and girls, so that they can make more informed and independent life choices to contribute more to the family, economy and society, he said.