MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

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December 18, Belarusian State University of Physical Culture hosted a ceremony to present the award of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to gifted Belarusian youth studying Chinese.

The ceremony was attended by First Deputy Minister of Education of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Bakhanovich, the leadership of the Ministry of Sports and Tourism, university rectors, school and gymnasium directors, directors of Confucius Institutes, Chinese language teachers, students and schoolchildren studying Chinese language and culture.

The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Belarus organized this award ceremony for the eighth time with the aim of strengthening the friendship between China and Belarus as well as further developing of exchanges and cooperation in the field of education between the two countries, strengthening the social and public base of friendly relations, stimulating interest in learning Chinese language and culture and encouraging Belarusian students and schoolchildren who have demonstrated success in learning Chinese. After a strict selection process, 36 students from different universities and schools received this honor.

The head of the Chinese diplomatic mission in Belarus, Xie Xiaoyong, said at the ceremony of presenting the Chinese Ambassador's Award for 2023 that since 2016, 264 outstanding students from Belarus studying Chinese have been awarded this honor.

“Every time I see the interest in learning Chinese among Belarusian youth and teenagers, the constant improvement in the level of Chinese language proficiency as well as the growing team of Chinese language teachers in Belarus, I’m pleasantly astonished and very encouraged, and I also see that by teaching Chinese Belarus is developing rapidly every day and future cooperation in educational, humanitarian and other fields between the two countries is becoming more promising,” emphasized Xie Xiaoyong.

Congratulating this year’s award winners, Alexander Bakhanovich said: “We feel a genuine sense of pride in our children who have demonstrated high achievements in learning the Chinese language and scientific competitions, as well as sincere gratitude to the teachers who generously shared their knowledge, skills, experience and tirelessly accompanied them on this difficult path to success. I am convinced that today’s award winners will make a significant contribution to the development of Belarusian-Chinese cooperation both in the fields of education and culture, as well as in the real sector of the economy.”

It was noted that Belarus and China have formed a colossal foundation for the development of bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation, including in the field of education and youth policy.

For more than thirty years, our relations have been developing dynamically and effectively and today have reached the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership. The foundation of these relations was laid by the Heads of the two states - President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Chairman of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping.

Effective interaction is based on an emphasis on young people in education and personnel training.

Taking into account the implementation of joint Belarusian-Chinese investment projects, including the Great Stone Industrial Park, and the growing demand for specialists capable of using Chinese in professional activities, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus attaches great importance to the popularization, support and expansion of opportunities for learning the Chinese language. To this end, for almost twenty years, a wide range of measures has been implemented to achieve the goal.

In the current academic year, about six thousand students in general secondary and higher education institutions study Chinese as an academic subject.

It is also noted that today, general secondary education institutions are provided with a full course (from grades 3 to 11) of domestic textbooks with electronic applications.

An information and training segment has been created on the national educational portal of Belarus with materials about the educational system and culture of China, and materials for learning the Chinese language.

Confirmation of the effectiveness of this work is the fact that the majority of graduates of general secondary education institutions by the time they complete their studies have certificates of passing the HSK (standardized qualifying examination in the Chinese language for non-native speakers of Chinese) no less than levels 3 and 4.

Much attention is also paid to the provision of educational institutions with teaching staff. Thus, Minsk State Linguistic University is up to the task. Its Faculty of Chinese Language and Culture will graduate Chinese language teachers for the eighth time in the current academic year.

For six years, the Republican Institute of Chinese Studies named after Confucius of the Belarusian State University has been successfully retraining secondary school teachers in the Chinese language. The implementation of this experimental program makes it possible to provide schools in the Republic of Belarus with specialists fluent in Chinese language in the shortest possible time.

“The increasing number of Belarusian youth taking part and demonstrating high achievements in national and international competitions and olympiads on knowledge of the Chinese language, as well as the interest of Belarusian youth shown in the qualifying rounds of the “Chinese Language - Bridge” competitions in the Republic of Belarus, allows us to note with satisfaction, that this work, with the active assistance of the Chinese side, is bearing fruit. At the same time, we cannot but be pleased with the fact that the work on studying the official languages of the two countries is carried out on a mutual basis,” said the First Deputy Minister.

At the same time, the specialty “Belarusian language” is now available in 4 universities of the People’s Republic of China (specialists in the field of Belarusian philology graduated from the Tianjin University of Foreign Languages) and 12 centers for the study of Belarus have been created.
Expressing gratitude to Mr. Xie Xiaoyong for effective interaction and support provided in the implementation of joint initiatives, Alexander Bakhanovich stated: “In your person we always see a reliable partner whose actions confirm the words of the Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, that China is actively committed to continuing joint efforts with Belarus to strengthen practical cooperation in the interests of dynamic, healthy and sustainable development of bilateral relations.”

For the guests and participants of the ceremony, the martial arts group of the Confucius Institute of the Belarusian State University of Physical Culture showed a bright dragon and lion dance, and the student group of the university “Gymnastics Theater” performed a fan dance. In its turn, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Belarus performed the Chinese dance “Shengshi Festive Song”, as well as the performance of the folk music ensemble “Wild Dance of the Golden Snake”.