The Confucius Institute of Antigua and Barbuda is getting ready to expand the
teaching of the main Chinese language, mandarin, as well as Chinese culture here
in Antigua and Barbuda.
Co-Director of the Institute, Gayle Greene-Phillip, said the institute has been
operating in the country for the past five years and it is getting ready to establish a
presence at the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus. This
development will see the expansion of the institute’s work with a physical unit at
the university.
Greene-Phillip remarks came as the institute welcomed the arrival of a new Co-
director from China, Joanne Li. “We currently teach mandarin in two secondary
schools, the Sir Novelle Richards Academy and the Glanville Secondary. At
SNRA it is a compulsory subject in the first and second forms so all students are
exposed to the language. When they get to third form, then it becomes optional,”
she explained. The subject is optional at all levels at the Glanville Secondary.
The Confucius Institute was first established at the Antigua and Barbuda Institute
for Continuing Education (ABICE) but went to an online format at the advent of
the COVID-19 pandemic. Greene-Phillip said mandarin classes are also taught to
adults in its adult programme. All the classes are free including the reading
materials.
“The response to the classes has been absolutely phenomenal. We have had
students who have done the HSK examinations (a test for Chinese profieicncy) and
we have had students who have completed HSK 1,2 and 3. The two top students
we recently went off to China on scholarships came through the institute. Students
who complete the HSK exams also save time when they travel to China to study as
it allows them to go directly to their classes without having to spend year learning
the language,” she further explained.
Since its establishment, the CI has always had a co-director from China. Li said
she has already visited the UWI FIC and a nearby school and that she hopes to visit
more schools in the coming weeks. “I have been thinking about starting classes in
local areas for people who work during the day as I have been contacted by
potential students who are eager to learn. It is exciting and a good background for
me and the teaching of Chinese education in this country,” she stated.
The CI Centre at the UWI FIC will open ahead of the start of the 2024-25
academic year in September.
