Dominica State College, in collaboration with the Chinese government, formally launched the first ever Confucius Classroom in Dominica on Thursday, May 26, 2022.
This classroom will provide a learning setting for Dominicans to learn about Chinese culture, language, culinary arts, martial arts, and arts. It will, on the other hand, allow Chinese nationals to learn about Dominica’s culture, culinary skills, and history.
Dominica, according to the DSC’s president, now joins hundreds of institutions and universities throughout the world.
According to him, the International Association of Universities conducted a global survey of universities and colleges from 126 nations in 2018, and the results were overwhelmingly supportive of International Education as a priority for schools worldwide.
“The respondents all declared that there were significant benefits to be gained from internationalizing University. Among the top reasons stated were, enhance International cooperation and capacity-building, enhance Prestige profile for the institution, improve quality of teaching and learning improve International awareness and deeper engagement in Global issues by students and professors.”
The college president remarked that by collaborating with Xidian University and establishing a Confucius Classroom, Dominican State College has joined a unique brotherhood of higher education institutions.
There are presently 530 Confucius classrooms worldwide, with 31 in the United States and seven in the Caribbean, including Antigua and the Bahamas, and Dominica State College is the eighth.
DSC will, in turn, educate Chinese residents English as a second language, as well as the history, values, and culture of Dominica. Dominicans can also learn how to prepare Chinese food and practice martial arts.
The Chinese Ambassador to Dominica, His Excellency Lin Xianjiang, said that construction on the classroom was planned to begin in 2018 but was halted when the epidemic struck.
“ Good things, take time to happen as two years ago, Dominica State College, and his Chinese partner, Xidian University put forward the idea to establish a Confucius classroom, but was delayed by the outbreak of covid-19. Pandemic,” he said
“Last month’s overcoming the impact of the pandemic two teachers from Xidian University finally arrived in Dominica making the formal launching of the Confucius classroom possible.”
Xidian University is a well-known Chinese university with extensive expertise teaching Chinese as a foreign language outside of China.
The university launched its first Confucius classroom in 2015 with the Pentagon Institution in Germany, and Dominica State College became the university’s second partner Institute.
