Queensland's newest "Confucius Classroom" has been officially opened at Kedron State High School in Brisbane as part of the Confucius Institute at QUT (CIQ).
It is the sixth Confucius Classroom to join QUT's network of Queensland schools teaching Chinese language.
QUT is building linkages between China and Queensland schools through its world-leading Confucius Institute and its network of school-based Confucius Classrooms.
Director of the CIQ, Mr Chris Meakin, said, the Queensland network was creating international links and helping students become global citizens of the 21st Century.
"These six Confucius Classrooms are bridges between China and Queensland, with each school having a growing number of mainstream learners of Chinese," he said.
"These students gain foundations in the use of Modern Standard Chinese, and also gain intercultural abilities through online technologies, student exchanges and other methods.
"Learning a language like Chinese opens many doors to the world of Chinese, not only just in China, but around the globe."
Queensland Minister of Education, The Honourable Mr John-Paul Langbroek, spoke at the July 25 opening ceremony of the Kedron Confucius Classroom, which was attended by school leaders, teachers and students, and QUT Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Development) Professor Scott Sheppard.
The state's six Confucius Classrooms are located in schools in Townsville, the Fraser Coast Region, Gold Coast, Redlands Bay and Brisbane.
The CIQ was established in 2009 as Queensland's first Confucius Institute and has received awards from the Hanban (Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language) in China in 2010, 2011, and 2012.
CIQ's partners in China are the Hanban (Beijing) and the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education. CIQ works with the Queensland Department of Education, Chinese Language Teachers' Association of Queensland and Queensland non-government sector education organisations.
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Media contacts:
- Chris Meakin, CIQ Director, christopher.meakin@qut.edu.au, 07 3138 3224, 0403 239 095
- Mechelle McMahon, QUT media unit, media@qut.edu.au
