Mr. Shahrukh Sergei received the award on behalf of the Confucius Classroom
From December 4 to 5, the 13th Confucius Institute Conference was held in Chengdu. More than 1,500 delegates from 154 countries and regions around the world attended the conference. Sun Chunlan, member of Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee, Vice Premier of the State Council and President of the Headquarters Council of the Confucius Institute, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. Tian Xuejun, Vice Minister of Education, attended the closing ceremony and gave a speech. He then awarded the prizes to 30 advanced Confucius Institutes (including 3 advanced Confucius Classrooms) and 41 advanced individuals. The Confucius Classroom (the Classroom for short) jointly operated by LNU and Belarusian State University of Physical Culture (BSUPC) stood out among 1,193 Confucius Classrooms worldwide and won the title of Advanced Confucius Classroom in 2018 for the first time.
During the conference, Mr. Shahrukh Sergei, the first vice president and the representative of BSUPC, gave a keynote speech on classroom teaching and the characteristic development of the Classroom at the "Chinese +", a sub-forum of the Presidents' Forum. He pointed out that the Classroom could not develop with high speed and quality without the support of LNU, the smooth communication between the leaders of the two universities, and the correct leadership of the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban for short).
On December 5, the delegations of BSUPC and LNU held a brief meeting with Wang Yong, Director of the Development Planning Department of Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters. They exchanged views on the issue of upgrading the Classroom to Confucius Institute. Director Wang Yong hoped that the Classroom, after summing up the experience of the previous three years, could face new challenges and seize new opportunities to make new achievements in terms of Chinese martial arts promotion, Chinese language teaching, Chinese tea ceremony and so on, and strive to turn the Classroom into a Confucius Institute with distinct characteristics at an earlier date. Mr. Shahrukh Sergei thanked Hanban for its constant support to the Classroom and hoped that Hanban could support the upgrading the Classroom to Confucius Institute. He noted that BSUPC would make unremitting efforts on the upgrading issue. Zheng Zhijun, Director of International Exchange & Cooperation Office of LNU, noted that we would contiue to give full play to our advantage as a normal university and work hard to bring the Classroom to a new level through enhanced cooperation and mutual support. At the same time, we would see the Classroom as the bridge and continuously explore broader cooperation and exchange between LNU and universities from Belarus.
The Confucius Classroom jointly operated by LNU and BSUPC is established under the leadership of Confucius Institute Headquarters/Hanban, and it is encouraged by the Belt and Road Initiative. With new ideas and new modes of teaching, the Classroom is characterized by martial arts and sports healthcare and recovery. The Classroom was officially inaugurated on November 7, 2015 and was put into actual operation in February 2016. Over the past three years, the Classroom has achieved the goals as follows: its facilities for teaching have reached relevant standards; it is relatively large in scale, distinctive in course content and diversified in teaching mode; the enrollment number of students has reached thousands; its cultural promotions have generated extensive influence, and its overall development is gaining momentum. In addition, the Classroom bases itself upon Chinese language teaching, highlights the teaching of martial arts and improves both its soft power and facilities. It has also successfully held cultural activities of different types and played an active role in helping Belarusians to learn Chinese language and understand Chinese culture. It has made a significant contribution to the enhancement of the cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and Belarus, and the development as well as diversity of global civilization.
The Confucius Institute Conference is a gathering held every year by Confucius Institutes across the globe, and it is known as the "Davos of Education". At present, 154 countries and regions have set up 548 Confucius Institutes, 1,193 Confucius Classrooms and 5,665 Chinese Language Teaching Points. There are 46,000 full-time and part-time teachers and 11 million face-to-face trainees in China and abroad. Various cultural activities held by Confucius Institutes have attracted hundreds of millions of people from different countries to join in and experience. The most diversified international language education network in the world has been created.
Ms. Irina, Director of International Exchange & Cooperation Office of BSUPC, the head of Confucius Classroom of Chinese side, Director of International Exchange & Cooperation Office of LNU, the head and staff of our School of Physical Science were invited to attend the conference.
Communication with Hanban
Mr. Shahrukh Sergei giving a speech at the Forum
(Pictures are provided by International Exchange & Cooperation Office)
