New agreement links Chinese school district, SD23, Okanagan College
Okanagan College and Central Okanagan school district are now linked up with a school district in China.
This week, School District 23 superintendent Kevin Kaardal, Okanagan College president Jim Hamilton and Dongbiao Zeng, director of the Education Bureau of Tianhe District, signed a memorandum of co-operation that will ease student and instructor exchanges and cultural development between the three groups.
The agreement follows on earlier agreements signed by B.C. and Guangdong. The first sister provinces agreement was signed in 1995 and was followed by more detailed agreements in 2011 and 2016. The last interprovincial agreement focused on two-way educational exchange and promotion.
“This commitment to co-operate opens the doors between ourselves and the Educational Bureau of Tianhe District,” said Hamilton. “With this in place we can work to facilitate Chinese students from this region finding a receptive school district and college in the Okanagan, and our students finding educational opportunities in one of the worldís global economic nodes.”
“Our goal is to create cultural connections and paths that will strengthen our students’ sense of global citizenship,” said Kaardal.
“The signing among the Central Okanagan School District, Okanagan College, and Tianhe is going to not only boost the synergy on research and development of high quality international education programs, but it will also help teachers and students from both countries to blend in each other’s education culture, in order to set up a new strategic education cooperation pattern,” said Dongbiao Zeng, director of the Education Bureau of Tianhe District.
“In recent years, Tianhe has been aiming at constructing a modern education system that matches the national core city status of Guangzhou.”
The Tianhe District is one of 11 districts in Guangzhou city. Tianhe District’s population is estimated at 1.5 million people.
The Guangzhou metropolitan area has an estimated population of about 25 million and is one of China’s three busiest cities.
The agreement between the three institutions was facilitated by AQG Education Science and Technology Consulting Co., Ltd. Of Guangdong.
— Special to The Okanagan Weekend