Mandarin in CBSE
Mandarin, the language spoken by majority of Chinese will soon be part of CBSE curriculum as India and China today discussed modalities to train a large number of Indian teachers to acquire the language skills to make it part of the syllabus.
"China is our powerful neighbour and emerging as a biggest consumer of global resources. We can not wish it away. The best way to introduce China in India is to introduce its language at primary level so that our kids develop interest and knowledge about China," Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal said.
The issue figured high on his talks with China's Education Minister Yuan Guiren, who promised to work out modalities to train Indian teachers in Chinese language in India.
"Let us get enough Indians to learn Chinese. Let us have a lot of Chinese trainers in India who will teach the young students in schools. That is how we evoke interest in our kids about China. There is no other way to do it," Sibal told Indian journalists here.
Learning it at primary level is better than learning at tertiary level which is more of acidic interest, he said.
"I told Yuan I am willing to introduce Chinese in the CBSE system as a course. I can not do that unless I have standards and a there is a test. That can not happen unless I collaborate with you," said Sibal, who also took part in the World Economic Forum in Chinese city of Tiajin.
The Chinese side said that a two way programme can be worked out to train about 200 teachers. Some can come here to learn and other in India through different methods, the human resources minister said.
Sibal said he has already spoken to CBSE Chairman Vineet Joshi and obtained his consent to make Chinese part of its curriculum. It would be introduced as soon as teachers would be available, he added.
PTI
We would love to hear your opinion and views on this in the comments below.
