Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government provides to the Kurdistan regional government related to the provision of education and language training in that region.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK is working with the Kurdistan Regional Government to promote education and language training, particularly through the work of the British Council. Working with institutions across the Kurdistan Region, the British Council is supporting projects to develop skills and build capacity in various sectors including in the vocational education sector. The British Council is also providing online English language opportunities for Kurdish learners and English training for educators. Some of this support is specifically targeted to assist refugees and host communities. We also support further education through our Chevening programme.

Since June 2014, the UK has committed £129.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Iraq. The UK is the largest contributor to the UN’s Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund, which has funded education projects for the most vulnerable displaced Iraqi children, amongst other programmes.