Amb. Peter Sha-Li Lan and Hon. Orando Brewster, Minister of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Family, Gender Affairs, Youth, Housing and Informal Human Settlement, launched the first-ever Mandarin class pilot project at the Barrouallie Government School on 3rd November, 2022.
In his remarks, Amb. Lan said the governments of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had close cooperation in education, such as annual Taiwan Scholarships, TaiwanICDF Scholarships, bursaries and Mandarin courses, which benefitted all level of Vincentian students. This pilot project aimed at providing opportunities to primary school students in taking root in Mandarin education and hopefully giving them better chance in applying the said scholarships. He thanked Hon. Brewster and his Ministry, the Ministry of Education and National Reconciliation and the schools for their support in launching the project.
Minister Brewster said in his remarks that this is the first-ever Mandarin class for primary school students in the history of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. When he accompanied Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves to Taiwan in August 2022, they had talked about expanding cooperation in education including Mandarin courses. He was delighted to see the pilot project launched at 4 primary schools in Central Leeward and expressed sincere appreciation to the government and people of Taiwan as well as commending the great work accomplished by the Taiwan Embassy and Taiwan Technical Mission.(E)
