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News : New Providence Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM


Bon Voyage Ceremony Held for Bahamian Students Traveling to China
By College of The Bahamas Office of Communication
Jun 27, 2016 - 5:15:57 PM

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Attendees of the Confucius Institute Awards Ceremony and Reception for the awardees of Language Scholarships and Chinese Cultural Programme

Nassau, BAHAMAS - The Confucius Institute at The College of The Bahamas recently held an award ceremony and reception at the Harry C. Moore Library and Information Centre to honour 20 Bahamian students who will soon travel to China to participate in the Mandarin Language Scholarships Chinese Cultural Programme.

Institute directors, representatives from Academic Affairs and Student Leadership, the Programme 2016 participants, their family and friends attended the ceremony. Also in attendance was recently appointed Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to The Commonwealth of The Bahamas His Excellency Huang Qinguo.

“I hope that the Confucius Institute will continue to grow at The College of The Bahamas. It is a good platform for stronger relationship between The Bahamas and China. It is an awesome opportunity for those who want to learn Mandarin and learn about Chinese culture,” The Ambassador told the audience.

The College of The Bahamas students will leave for China in early July to take part in the three-week long Chinese Cultural Programme 2016. This is the third year that Bahamian students will take part in the program. While in China, participants attend classes in Chinese language and culture at NUIST, partner-university of the Confucius Institute at The College of The Bahamas. The students will also visit important historical and cultural sites such as the Three Kingdoms Castle, the famous Confucius Temple in Nanjing and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Shanghai. They will also take part in activities designed to share key aspects of Bahamian culture with their Chinese hosts and other international visitors.

The Confucius Institute in The Bahamas is directed by Mr. Youhua Zhou, who gave a presentation covering many aspects of Chinese culture and landscape in a brief overview, and Mr. Haldane Chase.

Said Mr. Chase, “There are a lot of political, economic and cultural shifts currently happening around the world. This programme is on step towards preparing yourself to participate meaningfully in these shifts.”

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L-R: Dr. Pandora Johnson, Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs at The College of The Bahamas brought remarks at the event; as did H.E. Huang Qinguo, Ambassador, People’s Republic of China.

Included in the participants who will take part in the summer programme, four students, Ian Brown, Kimnil Knowles, Cortney McDonald, and Alexandra McKenzie, received Mandarin Language Scholarships and will be attending Nanjing University for varying lengths of time.

Chase also went on to explain to the students the advantage this generation has to be exposed to diverse cultures and experiences. “You have an opportunity that many persons in my day could not afford or imagine.”

Similarly, in her remarks, Dr. Pandora Johnson, Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs at The College, spoke to the students’ good fortune. “You have this opportunity which is not to be taken lightly.”

The College of The Bahamas introduced Chinese language classes in 2007. In 2009, The Confucius Institute headquarters approved the application by The College to establish a Confucius classroom, with the agreement signed in November that year. In October 2012, The College, in collaboration with the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) and the Nanjing University of Information, Science and Technology, launched the Confucius Institute.

The Confucius Institute at the College of The Bahamas, Confucius Institute Headquarters and Nanjing University of Information, Science and Technology, Nanjing, China are jointly sponsoring the program.

Confucius Institute is a non-profit public educational organization affiliated with theMinistry of Education of the People's Republic of China, whose aim is to promote Chinese language and culture, support local Chinese teachinginternationally, and facilitate cultural exchanges such as the Mandarin Language Scholarships Chinese Cultural Programme.

The Confucius Institute program began in 2004 and is overseen by Hanban. The institutes cooperate with local colleges and universities around the world, and financing is shared between Hanban and the host institutions. The Institute hosted at COB is among 109 Confucius Institutes and 347 classrooms globally.

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