The English Speaking Scholastic Association of the River Plate (ESSARP) was originally founded in 1926 as "The British Scholastic Association" to provide a forum for interchange between the heads of the British-type schools in Argentina and Uruguay.

The heads of the traditional British schools: Belgrano Day School, Belgrano Girl's School, Northlands, St. Albans's, St. Andrew's and St. George's would gather three or four times a year at the English Club or at The Stranger's Club to discuss Cambridge results over a few drinks.

In 1975, the ESSARP Committee found it appropriate to incorporate a much wider range of student activities, such as Art and Drama Festivals, and General Knowledge Competitions, which expanded in time to include Student's Forums, Music & Choir Festivals, Maths competitions, Chess tournaments, etc.

In 1976 it launched what was to become its Annual Conference. From relatively modest beginnings (80 delegates) this culminated in several Regional Conferences with delegates from all over South and Central America in attendance.

In 1982 ESSARP was invited by UCLES (University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate) to take over the local administration of Cambridge "O" and "A" level examinations, as well as English Language examinations at school level. It then became responsible for the administration of IGCSE examinations, and played a most important part in promoting them. Their success was immediate so much so that, before they became popular with Commonwealth Ministries of Education, Argentina was far and away the country that presented most candidates in the world. Jointly with the Argentina Representative of CIE it is now proceeding with similar enthusiasm to promote the A and AS Level examinations, the Cambridge International Primary Programme, the Lower Secondary Programme, Vocational Qualifications, and even Computer Based Tests!

In 1984 after a six-week visit, Kenneth Ridley, the Dean of the University College of Ripon St. John's, and Dave Williamson recommended setting up a Teacher's Centre. Initially this started in rented, cramped, quarters. Expansion was such that three years later much larger premises on Av. Callao were purchased, and in 1999 the present premises on Esmeralda 672, 7^th and 8^th floor where purchased, more than doubling the space available for courses and incorporating a much needed auditorium.

In 1991 the Association decided to admit independent schools as Affiliate Members to the Centre, thus opening up the facilities and services to the full constituency of bilingual schools in greater Buenos Aires. In time it also admitted Distant Affiliate Members from provinces as distant as Córdoba, San Juan, Mendoza, Neuquén and Santa Cruz, and even from across the river in Uruguay.

In-service training courses for teachers and heads are in great demand: year after year the number of courses and number of sessions offered have increased steadily catering for the needs and requirements of teachers and heads at all levels: Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary in both languages: English and Spanish. The courses cover issues related to international exam syllabuses and implementation, literature programmes, methodology, class management skills, content areas and more.

Since 1999 ESSARP has offered Welcome courses for different CIE subjects, aimed at providing an introduction to the key CIE documents and to the standards required in the assessment of the IGCSE or A/AS Level syllabuses, as well as Follow-up courses which aim at reviewing teaching strategies in the application of the CIE syllabuses. Once a year, CIE runs face-to-face two-day workshops at ESSARP conducted by experienced CIE trainers who offer ESSARP school teachers and heads the opportunity to update their knowledge, learn new skills and network with other teachers.

New initiatives have also been implemented: the ESSARP Goes to School Programme, the aim of which is to bring ESSARP courses closer to schools and their staff by holding them at schools, thus reducing travelling time and costs for participants; and the Distance Education Programme, which started off in 2000 as a discussion list and has now developed into an e-learning programme with its own virtual platform. This modality of in-service training has provided teachers and heads who live away from the Centre or who have a tight timetable with the opportunity to participate in ESSARP activities.

In an attempt to enrich the Course Programme, ESSARP has organized events with other institutions: Words on Words and Reading Groups with the British Council to explore literature genres; an international conference and cutting edge seminars with Universidad de San Andrés (UdeSA), talks on educational matters with Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (UTDT) and Fondo de Cultura Económica, among others.

The Centre has a well-stocked specialist library on education, a video/DVD library, a computer laboratory with Internet access and a permanent exhibition of subjects of cultural interest. For the running of the varied courses, the Centre has state-of-the-art equipment for presentations and workshops: OHP's, digital projectors, an interactive whiteboard, VCR and DVD players, Internet access in all classrooms and a photocopier/network printer.