The University of Guyana is pursuing a partnership with the Beijing Technological and Business University to set up a Confucius Institute here for teaching Chinese language and culture.
This was announced to university staff on Friday by outgoing Vice-Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington,during a farewell briefing.
“If all goes well, the goodwill of the Government of China would produce a structure, which would enable the School of Education and Humanities to guarantee the place of Chinese in the curriculum of the University and deliver its programmes more effectively,” he said, while crediting Guyana’s Ambassador to China Professor David Dabydeen for sterling perseverance in the process.
According to Confucius Institute Online, China began establishing the non-profit public institutions to promote Chinese language and culture in foreign countries in 2004, while benefiting from the UK, France, Germany and Spain’s experience in promoting their national languages.
It noted that with the rapid growth of China’s economy and exchanges with the world, there has also been a sharp increase in the world’s demands for Chinese learning. By the end of 2010, it said, there were 322 Confucius Institutes and 369 Confucius Classrooms established in 96 countries. It added that in 2009, Confucius Institutes/Classrooms around the world offered 9,000 Chinese courses of a multitude of styles, with a total enrolment of 260,000, while more than 7,500 cultural exchange activities took place, involving the participation of over 3 million persons.
