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 | Chief guest, Head of School of Language, Arts, and Media (SLAM), Professor Sudesh Mishra, conferring certificates to the graduates |
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The Confucius Institute at the University of the South Pacific held its third graduation ceremony for students enrolled in the Social and USP staff Conversational Chinese courses.
The ceremony was held at the Vineyard Palace restaurant, in Suva on Thursday evening, 20 June, 2013. Professor Sudesh Mishra, Head of the School of Language, Arts and Media (SLAM), was the Chief Guest.
The Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Law and Education (FALE), Dr Akanisi Kedrayate, the local director of the Confucius Institute at USP, Ms. Joan Yee, the Chinese director, Professor Denggui Li, Counselor Yang from the Chinese Embassy and the Chinese teachers also attended the ceremony and conferred the certificates.
Prizes were also presented to students who performed excellently in their exams, as well as students who attended all of their classes and to the “loyal” students who have enrolled in each semester since the courses began.
Chief Guest, Professor Mishra, in congratulating the students for successfully completing their courses, acknowledged the efforts of the teachers at the Institute.
“We hope that you [students] will further your education at the Confucius Institute,” he added.
After the ceremony, the students gave delightful performances to their friends and families who were in attendance. They exhibited what they had been taught in class, from the drum dance, Chinese fan dance, to singing by the USP staff class for beginners, as well as a skit/ Chinese talk show.
One of the teachers, Dan Zhang also sang a Chinese song, based on the classical novel “Dream of the Red Chamber”, dedicating it to her students, while Professor Li demonstrated his ballroom dancing skills with his colleague, Li Haiyan.
Confucius institute director, Ms Yee, said the graduation, which the students look forward to, was a very successful and enjoyable event.
“The future of the Confucius Institute at USP is very bright. From the responses we have had, the demand for the learning and teaching of Chinese language and culture in the Pacific region is strong,” she said.
“We look forward to increasing the enrolments in these courses and in the credit courses. More film evenings, public lectures and cultural activities are planned,” she added.
The Confucius institute is looking to develop closer collaboration with stakeholders on fulfilling aims such as integrating the teaching of the Chinese language and culture into schools, training of local workers in industries such as tourism and infrastructure development in the Chinese language, and the establishment of a teaching centre in Western Viti Levu, online courses.
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