Taiwan inks pact with Doon University for Teaching Mandarin
So far Taiwan's TECC has signed MoUs with 23 educational institutions in India for teaching Mandarin. In 19 of these institutions, it has either set up or signed MOUs to set up Taiwan Education Centers (TECs).
The MOU to this effect was signed online between Doon University and the New Delhi-based Education Division of Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India (TECC) on May 28 to have academic collaboration in Mandarin language teaching between the two sides.
Located in the lush green foothills of Shivalik mountains, the Doon University offers a full range of multi-disciplinary academic programs at the undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels.
As per the MoU terms, the Taiwanese teacher will conduct some Mandarin classes for its students and help students gain Mandarin language skills and information regarding studying in Taiwan, available scholarships, internships opportunities, and so on, said Peters Chen, Education Director, TECC.
So far Taiwan’s TECC has signed MoUs with 23 educational institutions in India for teaching Mandarin. In 19 of these institutions, it has either set up or signed MOUs to set up Taiwan Education Centers (TECs). These include IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, Jamia Millia Islamia, SRM Chennai, and Vel Tech Chennai.
“If the border restriction cannot be lifted due to COVID-19 pandemic, then we can have distance teaching as an alternative way. As education moves ahead, I hope to see a more practical language program for each student who is learning Mandarin, allowing them to use the contents they learned to introduce history or stories in Mandarin to let Mandarin-speaking people understand the real India. By doing so, I think students will gain the love of learning,” he added.
MOU was signed by Mr. Peters Chen representing TECC, and Dr. M.S. Mandarwal, Registrar, Doon University did it representing the university.
Students can also take Taiwan’s Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL) as an assessment certificate, which corresponds to levels used by CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, and Assessment ) and ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages).
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The Department of Chinese Studies, Doon University, Uttarakhand is a young and ambitious department. Only a decade old, the department is already the only Centre after the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Chinese Centre in Northern India, which since its inception has been continuously training students in Chinese language, literature, and culture at a graduate level and a postgraduate level.
With support from the Doon University administration and under the guidance of renowned Indian sinologists from JNU, Viswa Bharati, Delhi University, this department is gradually moving towards establishing itself as a credible Centre of sinology.
“The MoU with TECC is an important step towards this endeavor”, said Madhurendra Jha, the current in-charge of the department.
Prof. Surekha Dangwal, the Vice-Chancellor of Doon University, and Dr. M.S. Mandarwal, Registrar, Doon University extended their congratulations and best wishes to the TECC and the Department of Chinese Studies for the MoU. They said that as and when the native faculty from Taiwan joins the department of Chinese studies under this MoU, not only the students and the faculty members of the department will benefit from it, it will also help in enhancing academic and cultural ties between Doon University and other academic institutions of Taiwan.” The University looks forward to more of such academic and cultural collaborations with Taiwan through the Education Division, TECC”, they added.
This cooperation also gains the attention of higher education institutions to transform the crisis of COVID-19 into an opportunity and look ahead to fulfill the aim of the NEP 2020 to encourage international academic collaboration and the shift of education paradigms.
