Focus on Latvia Immigration and Latvia Education: On the afternoon of November 23, the Latvia University Confucius Institute held the first nationwide symposium on Chinese language teaching and Sinology research in the capital, Riga.
The symposium invited 22 local Chinese language teachers from the Latvia University Confucius Institute, the Asia Studies Department of Latvia University, the Confucius Center of Stradins University, Ventspils University, Riga Technical University, Daugavpils University, Rezekne University, Riga Culture Secondary School, and Riga No. 68 Secondary School, as well as public Chinese language teachers and volunteers sent by the Hanban of China.
The purpose of this symposium was to help everyone understand the development strategy and main tasks of the Hanban's international Chinese education, share advanced experiences in international Chinese education, understand the specific content of the "New Sinology Program," and how to further improve the quality of international Chinese education and promote Sinology research.
Professor Huang Mingxi, the Chinese director of the Latvia University Confucius Institute, delivered a keynote speech, briefly introducing the current status and medium- to long-term planning of the global development of Confucius Institutes. He emphasized the six sub-projects covered by the "New Sinology Program," including the cooperative doctoral training program, the doctoral study program in China, the "Understanding China" visiting scholar program, the youth leader program, the international conference program, and the publication funding program, highlighting the importance of implementing core teacher positions in Confucius Institutes.
Professor Beidgao, the foreign director, proposed constructive suggestions regarding the division of labor between local Chinese language teachers and teachers from China, as well as advancing the work on local teaching materials. Participants actively spoke, engaging in thorough discussions on topics such as building a professional teaching team for international Chinese education, improving the Confucius Institute scholarship system, compiling Chinese teaching materials with local characteristics in Latvia, establishing a sound Chinese examination system, and implementing the New Sinology Program. Everyone expressed that this was a very good symposium for information exchange and resource sharing.
As one of the largest Chinese language teaching and Sinology research conferences in Latvia's history, this symposium received strong support from the Chinese Embassy in Latvia. Renowned Chinese language and Sinology experts in Latvia, Professor Beidgao and Professor Shilianna, also attended the symposium.
