Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 13 (IANS): The British Council and the Kerala state education department Wednesday inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the conduct of the Aptis test in the state.

Aptis is an innovative English assessment tool from the British Council.

The MoU was signed here between the British Council and the state education department in the presence of state Education Minister Abdu Rabb.

This programme would be run under the Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP), the recently launched by the Kerala state education department, and can be undertaken by higher secondary school and college students in the state.

From now on, all students who pass the Aptis test under the ASAP would get a certificate of the British Council.

"Through this, we are certain that the communication skills of our students would improve hugely and will benefit them when they are ready for a job," Rabb said.

British Council team leader Paul Sellers, when asked if the timing of signing the memorandum -- coinciding with the visit of British royals to the state -- meant anything, said: "Everything!"

"The relation that the royalty has with here is years old, and so it means everything," Sellers said.