The first Taiwan Education Center in India of the Punjab Province was officially established at the Chitkara University, in the hope to increase the number of Indian students to learn traditional Chinese and promote the mutual communication between Taiwan and India.

The first Taiwan Education Center was opened on the 12th this month at Punjab’s Chitkara University. The Deputy Representative Chen Chi-Hao and Head of Education Division Chen Li-Ying of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in India were invited to attend the opening and ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) established the Taiwan Education Center to offer Indian students the opportunities to study the Chinese language, by which they could have a further understanding of Taiwanese culture; therefore, it may promote cooperation and communication between Taiwan and India. To select and dispatch Chinese as a Second Language teacher to India, the MOE has fully subsidized the National Tsing Hua University since 2011 to support its collaboration with Indian schools and the establishment of the eighth Taiwan Education Center. With the endeavoring of the Education Division of TECC, there are currently 18 Education Centers in India.

Ashok Chitkara, the founder of Chitkara University who is fluent in Chinese, said in the opening speech that he was delighted to see students were learning Chinese with teachers of excellence at the Center, which was also the platform to provide bilateral exchange and communication.

Chen Chi-Hao then pointed out in his speech, that this was the first time that MOE has dispatched teachers of Chinese as a Second language to teach Mandarin Chinese at Chitkara University in Punjab. The Taiwan Education Center would also provide firsthand information of higher institutes in Taiwan, including information on study programs and scholarships, in the hope, there would be more students of Chitkara University or from the province of Punjab choose to study abroad in Taiwan.

According to the MOE statistics, the number of Indian students studied in Taiwan had reached 2,390 in 2018, the mainstream media of India, the Times of India also reported that Taiwan had provided one of the best environments for the choice of higher education for Indian students.

Chen Li-Ying remarked, Taiwan Education Center served as the education platform between India and Taiwan, education has become the most significant affair in Taiwan-India mutual exchange and collaboration. The Center would be the starting point for Indian students to get to know Taiwan and further made the place to become one of the best choices to study abroad.

In the opening ceremony, Chitkara University had arranged Indian students to read poetries by famous poets such as that by Li Po of the Tang Dynasty, and Yang Shen of the Ming Dynasty, which filled the opening ceremony of the Taiwan Education Center with the aura of Chinese culture.

(origin from:CNA)