H.E. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, the minister of state for development, francophonie and international partnerships in France, has unveiled plans for the expansion of the alliance française network. This expansion includes the establishment of new branches, with the alliance française of Jaipur extending its presence to Udaipur and the alliance française du Bengale branching out to Bhubaneswar, according to an official release.
“It is very important to speak about academic cooperation between India and France. French is a language of opportunities and cultural exchanges. The French language represents a special connection between France and India. French is the most learned foreign language in India, with approximately six lakh learners across the country,” minister said.
The expansion of French language education in India is closely aligned with France’s aim to host 20,000 Indian students by 2025 and three lakh by 2030. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris on July 14, France made an important announcement regarding the establishment of international classes to facilitate the seamless integration of Indian students into French academic programmes, the release mentioned.
In 2021, the ‘French for All’ programme was introduced by the French Institute in India in collaboration with Delhi government schools, providing French language courses. This marked the inaugural instance of foreign language instruction being accessible in government schools, extending the same educational opportunities to their students as those attending private schools. The programme has achieved remarkable success, with more than 3,000 students already enrolling in these courses. Moreover, the programme has been recently launched in Telangana, with plans for further expansion to additional regions in the future, as per the release.