First Trainees Arrive In Britain Under Colombo Plan Scheme. Before the Colombo plan came into effort on July 1, 1951 the first trainees from South and South East Asia were already being trained in the United Kingdom, under the Technical Co-operation Scheme of the Plan. The Scheme was set up to provide the countries in the area of South and South-East Asia with technical and trained men needed to carry out their development programmes. Under the scheme experts are sent out to the areas and trainees are sent for training in other countries where facilities are available. August 15, 1951. (Photo by British Official Photograph).