Chinese culture centre wins prestigious award

A PRESTIGIOUS award bestowed upon University College Cork could help fund a dedicated centre for Chinese culture and language on campus.

The UCC Confucius Institute (CI) has been named Confucius Institute of the year for its work delivering Chinese language and culture teaching in 33 Irish schools to more than 4,000 students since its inception four years ago.

UCC staff are hopeful that CI headquarters in China will help fund a purpose-built centre in UCC following presentation of the award.

A land pocket has been set aside for the structure and Professor Fan Hong, the director of UCC’s institute, said she hopes the wider CI would now look favourably on the Cork project.

“A dedicated CI building for the local community and for Ireland would be symbolic of the friendship between China and Ireland and between the twinned cities of Cork and Shanghai.

“We have put a lot of effort and work into promoting mutual understanding between Ireland and China not just this year, but over the past four years,” she said.

This includes delivery of Chinese language modules at UCC, the creation of a Chinese curriculum for transition year students in Ireland, the first Chinese curriculum for Irish higher education institutes and the production of four Chinese textbooks in schools and universities. The UCC CI set up a training centre for Chinese teachers, hosts training sessions and workshops in Ireland and organises outreach activities to promote mutual understanding between the two countries.

Manned by 18 full-time staff, the centre is finalising its plans to celebrate the Chinese New Year — the Year of the Dragon — in Ireland on January 23.