THE FIRST formal Chinese teaching programme in an Irish school was launched yesterday by the Chinese ambassador to Ireland, Liu Biwei, and president of UCD, Dr Hugh Brady, at Loreto Secondary School in Bray.
Under a deal signed with the UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland, native Chinese teachers will teach Mandarin Chinese to pupils at Loreto Secondary School from first year onwards on an extra-curricular basis.
It is also intended that Loreto school will serve the needs of other schools in the area.
Catherine Donagh, principal of Loreto Secondary School said the school set out to acquire Chinese teaching three years ago.
“We wanted to give the children a rounded education. We like to keep a close eye on the economy and the kind of world the students will be going out into.
“ We want them to be at the cutting edge of that world and be able to avail of the opportunities at third level.”
She told The Irish Timesthe idea was sparked a few years back when the Taoiseach led a trade mission to China. She said up to 40 pupils had already benefited from taking Chinese lessons and a number of girls had had travelled to Beijing last December to take part in a cultural festival that was broadcast on TV to 100 million people.
Dr Liming Wang, director of the Confucius Institute at UCD said the initiative follows from a three-year pilot programme.
“Discussions are currently under way with a number of other schools, with a view to taking the programme nationwide,” he said.
Dr Brady said recent studies undertaken by the college show a compelling need for Chinese language learning – both from an educational and business perspective.
“The lack of language ability and lack of understanding of Chinese culture form major barriers to doing business in China.
“Among Irish companies, over 78 per cent of those questioned, have a demand for university graduates who combine Business with Chinese studies.
“Our studies also found that 70 per cent of schools believe that Chinese will affect future job opportunities. Yet there is currently no guiding policy on the development of language education,” he added.