The Confucius Institute at The University of Queensland welcomed the establishment of its third Confucius classroom in Queensland at St. Andrews Catholic College, Cairns on the 18th June, 2015. The ceremony held at St. Andrews to commemorate the opening, included a showcase of language and cultural learning through a range of performances by St. Andrews students.
Attended by a number of guests including Mr Diarmuid O’Riordan (Deputy Executive Director, Catholic Education Services, Cairns), Mrs Linda Cooper (Councillor, Division 6, Cairns Regional Council), Mrs Clare Manning and Mr Craig Crawford (State Member for Barron River), both St. Andrews Principal Mr Lee MacMaster and CI Deputy Director Professor Ling Li spoke on the importance of language learning and cultural understanding in an increasingly globalised society.
Confucius Classrooms are key CI avenues to supporting the understanding of Chinese language and culture among school students in Queensland. The classrooms will ideally encourage students to both pursue their interests in these areas and to open more doors for higher learning and career choices beyond high school graduation.
The Confucius Institute, among other roles has a key focus on supporting an understanding of China engagement, Chinese language and cultural affairs. As the success of Sino-relations becomes increasingly important for global harmony and prosperity, the role of the Confucius Institute in fostering mutual understanding and respect has continued to grow offering a range of events, activities and programs to the greater UQ community including students, staff, schools, community groups and organisations.
The Institute extends its warmest congratulations to St Andrew’s Catholic College on this milestone achievement and looks forward to a close relationship as the classroom develops over the coming years.
Media Link: The Cairns Post June 23, 2015
