On December 21st, the opening ceremony of 2020 Teachers Training Program for Malaysian Chinese Schools was launched in QNU and the United Chinese School Teachers’ Association of Malaysia(UCSTAM) simultaneously via the Internet. The program was hosted by Fujian Overseas Friendship Association and Quanzhou Overseas Friendship Association, organized by QNU and Quanzhou Overseas Chinese Education Center,and co-organized by UCSTAM and Quanzhou Education Bureau.
Vice President Huang Jiangkun delivered a speech on behalf of the school. He pointed out that as an important country along the ancient maritime silk road, Malaysia was among the first countries to respond to the Belt and Road Initiative. QNU attaches great importance to the exchange and cooperation with Malaysia in Chinese education, making remarkable achievements in Chinese root-seeking tours, overseas students' education, and the training of overseas Chinese teachers and administrators. As the first university selected by Fujian Overseas Friendship Association to undertake the online training of overseas Chinese teachers during the epidemic, the school takes the initiative to explore the new mode of overseas Chinese education in the face of the pandemic. Before that, it has successfully undertaken the Philippine Chinese Teachers Training Program and the Philippine Principals(Administrators) Online Workshop, laying a solid foundation for the online program this time. He also extended good wishes to the participants in the program for their academic success.
Kang Tongming from the United Front Work Department of CPC Quanzhou Committee said that it was of special significance to overcome the space limit and gather in the cloud to hold the training and exchange activities for Chinese language teachers. He also put forward three hopes for the activity: firstly, the organizers should fully take the responsibility to arrange the work of the training program properly, ensuring students’ academic gain. Secondly,the students should cherish the learning opportunities and apply what they learn here to their future educational work, so as to promote the innovation and development of Chinese education in Malaysia. Thirdly, he also hoped that the students will take advantage of their understandings of the Chinese culture and deliver Chinese stories and Chinese voice, serving as good communicators of Chinese culture and bridges of cultural exchanges between China and Malaysia.
Xie Liyi, Chairman of UCSTAM, delivered a webcam speech. He said that the Workshop for Principals of Chinese Primary Schools in Malaysia held in QNU in 2019 benefited the participants a lot, and he believed that this training program can bring even more enhancements to the participants. He extended gratitude for the meticulous arrangements for the event across all departments and expressed the hope to strengthen cooperation in the future in order to provide more opportunities of learning and improvement for Chinese primary school teachers in Malaysia.
Mr. Lian Chaosheng, a representative of participants of the program, shared his feelings of participating in the training online. He believed that the online learning mode gave Malaysian Chinese teachers the opportunity to learn from Chinese master teachers in the cloud, so as to improve their Chinese teaching skills. He looked forward to setting foot on the beautiful land of China once again and truly experiencing the custom of China.
This program is the first online training course for Chinese school teachers in Malaysia, and the third online training program for overseas Chinese teachers in response to the challenges of the epidemic after Philippine Chinese Teachers Training Program and the Philippine Principals(Administrators) Online Workshop. In view of the needs of Malaysian Chinese teachers, the program offers practical courses including Teaching Skills, Educational Technology, Chinese Culture and etc.. Demonstration courses are also offered to the Chinese teachers from the primary and secondary schools affiliated to the Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, a cooperative university with QNU.
(Office of International Exchange and Cooperation, School of Literature and Communication)