British Council recognises partner schools’ achievements

The British Council has recognised the achievements and contributions of partner schools in Bangladesh at its annual Partner Schools Principals’ Meet 2026, held at the Sheraton Hotel in Dhaka on Sunday.

More than 210 principals and senior representatives of partner schools attended the event. Representatives from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, Pearson Edexcel and OxfordAQA also joined the programme.

British Council Chief Executive Scott McDonald, who was visiting Bangladesh, highlighted the importance of the country’s partner school network and its role in strengthening educational ties and people-to-people connections between Bangladesh and the UK.

The British Council Partner Schools Awards 2026 were presented in six categories, Climate Action, Digital Learning Excellence, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Leadership in Teaching, Safeguarding and Wellbeing.

An independent judging panel evaluated submissions from participating schools based on set criteria.

“The purpose of today’s event is to celebrate the achievements of the best schools. Winning an award is not the only important thing. Everyone here can be proud of the standards this network has established,” McDonald said.

British Council Bangladesh Head of Market Junaid Ahmed said partner schools had developed a professional community where educators learn, innovate and share good practices.

He said this year’s awards reflected growing priorities in education, including quality teaching, responsible digital learning, student safeguarding, inclusion, climate action and wellbeing.

The principals also discussed artificial intelligence in teaching and assessment, pathways to overseas higher education, school leadership, innovation and student wellbeing.

A question-and-answer session was held with McDonald, British Council Bangladesh Country Director Stephen Forbes and Junaid Ahmed. Updates on the Continuing Professional Development programme and a session on social and emotional learning were also included.