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June 2013
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Their visit to The UWI was a follow on to a three-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), signed on December 10, 2010 between the Confucius Institute of the People’s Republic of China and The UWI St Augustine Campus, in which the Government of China provided a Lecturer in the Mandarin language and Chinese culture to The UWI Centre for Language Learning from January 2011. It culminated with the two leaders signing an Agreement to establish a Confucius Institute at St Augustine so as to strengthen educational cooperation between China and Trinidad & Tobago, support and promote the development of Chinese Language education and increase mutual understanding among people in China and Trinidad & Tobago. Confucius Institutes are non-profit public institutions that operate within established universities, colleges and secondary schools around the world, providing funding, teachers and educational materials. Its headquarters are located in Beijing and the programme is overseen by the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban). Through The UWI, the Confucius Institute will teach Chinese language and provide Chinese Language teaching resources; train Chinese language instructors; provide information and consultative services concerning China’s education and culture; conduct language and cultural exchange activities and serve as the centre for the HSK Examination (Chinese Proficiency Test) and tests for the Certification of Chinese Language Instructors.\ This Confucius Institute will be the second of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, with one other established at The UWI Mona Campus in Jamaica in July 2010.
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On June 1, Professor Clement Sankat, Principal and Pro Vice Chancellor of The UWI, St. Augustine, had the pleasure of hosting Madame XU Lin, Director General of Hanban and Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute to a guided tour of the Campus. She and her team of five were part of the delegation visiting Trinidad & Tobago led by President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping.