Latest update April 4th, 2025 5:09 PM
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UG inks agreement to strengthen ties with China University
A School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation [SEBI] was last week launched by the University of Guyana [UG]. In wake of this newest introduction, the University has announced that it will be offering a Minor in
The University of Guyana campus
Mandarin Chinese Studies. In fact, UG has entered into an agreement with the Dalian University of Foreign Languages [DUFL] in China to offer studies in this regard, and also to develop a Bachelor’s Degree in Mandarin for UG.
This agreement, it was revealed, was reached recently when a team from UG comprising Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith; Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Planning and International Engagement, Dr. Barbara Reynolds; Director of UG’s Confucius Institute, Al Creighton, and Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute Ma Tao, met in China with officials of DUFL. The meeting was regarded the first historic official meeting of UG’s Board of the Confucius Institute.
DUFL is UG’s partner in China for the operation of the Confucius Institute. As such the meeting was held on the DUFL campus in the city of Dalian, China.
Representing DUFL were Vice-Chancellor Professor Liu Hong; Dean of the Multi-language Base in Dalian for the International Promotion of Chinese Language, Professor Sun Yuhua and Li Fan of the International Office at DUFL.
Professor Sun Yuhua pledged the full support of DUFL with assistance from Hanban – the headquarters for Confucius Institutes in China – for the programmes.
With the agreement in place, UG is slated to 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.
Moreover, at the meeting chaired by Ma Tao, both universities reaffirmed the content of an MOU already in force between them and pledged continued cooperation.
Added to this, Dr. Reynolds at the meeting proposed ideas for areas of future cooperation and ways in which the institutions can assist each other for mutual development. She also reaffirmed UG’s Vice-Chancellor’s invitation to DUFL to visit UG for its next meeting of the Board.
Meanwhile, Director of the Confucius Institute, 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 also presented the budget of the Institute and outlined its vision, 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 Confucius Institute.
Although it was historically founded with its strength in foreign languages, it now has programmes in several other disciplines and according to information disseminated, UG will now look forward to a widening in two-way exchanges involving areas beyond Chinese Language Teaching.
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