An 'army' of hundreds of Chinese teachers in Saudi Arabia to teach Mandarin
A first group of 175 teachers has completed their training and will start teaching in the Saudi kingdom by the end of August. The goal is to send at least 800 teachers to the Arab country. This is another sign of Beijing's growing economic and educational involvement in the Middle East.
Riyadh (AsiaNews) – For the first time in the history of China and Saudi Arabia, 175 Chinese teachers will begin teaching Mandarin in Saudi elementary and middle schools by the end of August, thus confirming China’s growing influence in the Middle East where it is vying for hegemony with the United States.
This follows an agreement signed last year by the two countries to boost cooperation in education, teaching Chinese language and culture in the kingdom.
According to the China Daily, the first group of teachers attended a training course from July 29 to 2 August at Tianjin Normal University. The five-day module was organised by the Saudi Ministry of Education, in cooperation with its Chinese counterpart.
A website dedicated to Chinese language teaching programmes reported that at least 800 teaching positions will be created thanks to this initiative.
The Saudi al-Marsd online news site also noted that the new academic year, which starts next week, will include Chinese language classes at least three times a week for three terms.
Last year, Saudi secondary schools introduced compulsory Chinese language courses for second-graders, which include educational shows and interactive lessons to enhance language learning through group and self-learning.
In 2020, Saudi authorities gave the green light to Chinese courses in eight high schools, again to strengthen ties between the countries.
After Xi Jinping's official visit to the Saudi kingdom at the end of 2022, when he met with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, it was announced that the teaching programmes would expand.
During his stay in Saudi Arabia, the Chinese president said that his government would expand the project, providing thousands of opportunities to teach Chinese in the Gulf States as well.
In January 2023, the Saudi Arabia Shura Council approved a draft agreement with China to teach Chinese, marking a significant step in education and cultural cooperation between the two countries.
This builds on an earlier agreement signed by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in 2019 during his visit to Beijing, which aimed to promote the use of Mandarin in Saudi Arabia as part of broader efforts to strengthen bilateral ties with China.
Saudi Arabia also plans to introduce Chinese language courses in middle schools, Cankao Xiaoxi,[*] a newspaper affiliated with the official Xinhua news agency, reported.
The first group of 175 teachers is the advance guard of a much larger "army" of hundreds of Chinese teachers ready to go to the kingdom, writes jiaohanyu.com, a website offering Chinese language teaching programmes and job opportunities.
“The successful completion of the pre-service training for the first batch of Chinese teachers is a reflection of the solid partnership and fruitful cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China," said Yaqin Talal A. Jebreen, a human resources specialist at Tatweer Co.
“I believe these teachers' fulfillment of the jobs will set a brand-new beginning for China-Saudi Arabia educational cooperation,” she added.
“We are grateful for such a valuable and ambitious training opportunity to contribute to Chinese language education in Saudi Arabia,” said Liu Xiaoting, one of the 175 teachers.
CPC[†] Tianjin Normal University (TNU) Committee secretary Qu Kai said that the university’s efforts have enabled more than 60,000 international students to learn Chinese language and culture.
This is crucial to boost international cooperation and Chinese language teaching in Saudi Arabia, providing students and teachers with better Chinese training services.
[*] Reference News.
[†] Communist Party of China.
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