The University of Guyana (UG) and the Dalian University of Foreign Languages (DUFL) in China have reached an agreement for the former to offer a Minor in Mandarin Chinese studies and also for the development of a Bachelor’s Degree in Mandarin at the UG.
This agreement was reached recently when a team from The University of Guyana comprising Vice-Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Planning and International Engagement Dr Barbara Reynolds, Director of the Confucius Institute, UG, Al Creighton, and Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute Ma Tao, recently met in China with
officials of the Dalian University of foreign Languages (DUFL) for the first historic official meeting of the Board of the Confucius Institute, UG.
The meeting was hosted by DUFL, the UG’s partner institution in China for the operation of the Confucius Institute and it was held on their campus in the city of Dalian, China.
Representing DUFL were Vice-Chancellor Prof Liu Hong, Dean of the Multi-language Base in Dalian for the International Promotion of Chinese Language Prof Sun Yuhua and Li Fan of the International Office at DUFL.
Prof Sun Yuhua pledged the full support of DUFL with assistance from Hanban – the headquarters for Confucius Institutes in China – for the programmes.
UG in a release said it will continue to offer Mandarin as one of the languages that its students may choose in addition to Spanish, French and Portuguese. Mandarin will also
be available as one of the foreign language requirements of the new School of Entrepreneurship and Business and Innovation (SEBI) at the UG.
The meeting was chaired by Ma Tao and addressed by the two Vice-Chancellors, Dr Reynolds, the Dean of the Multi-language Base and the Director of CIUG.
According to the release, both universities reaffirmed the MOU already in force between them and pledged continued cooperation, while Dr Reynolds put on the table ideas for areas of future cooperation and ways in which the institutions can assist each other for mutual development.
She also reaffirmed the Vice-Chancellor’s invitation to DUFL to visit the UG for the next meeting of the Board.
CIUG Director Al Creighton presented the report of the Institute, covering its operations since 2014, the conduct of the programme in Mandarin as well as the academic, cultural and social events on the UG Campuses and in the Guyanese community.
He presented the budget of the CIUG and outlined the vision of the Institute, plans for its future development and ways in which there can be deeper academic exchanges to support programmes in each university.
Dalian University of Foreign Languages was selected in 2013 to partner with UG in the setting up of the Confucius Institute on the campus. DUFL trains and makes available lecturers in Chinese Language Teaching for the CIUG. Although it was historically founded with its strength in foreign languages, it now has programmes in several other disciplines.
The UG says it will now look forward to a widening in two way exchanges involving areas beyond Chinese Language Teaching.
