The Confucius Institutes (CIs) are non-profit educational institutions funded by the Chinese government. Their main purpose is promoting Chinese language and culture around the world. Since the launch of the Confucius Institutes programme in 2004, the Confucius Institutes have secured a number of partnerships with universities in 146 countries around the world. The Confucius Institute at The University of Bahrain (UOB) is the only CI branch in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the only official Chinese institution to teach Chinese language, and the only HSK Test centre (Chinese proficiency test) in the country.

Delegates from the Confucius Institute at The University of Bahrain (CIUOB) visited Abdulrahman Kanoo School Diyar (ARKS) on Tuesday the 20th, as the school is the only private school to offer a third language (trilingual) embedded within the curriculum and across all Years from Nursery to its current Yr. 5 classes. This programme is the first of its kind and has been approved by the Ministry of Education.

A graduate of Shanghai International Studies University in China, Ms Fatima Sahwan leads the conversational Mandarin programme at ARKS. Noting the visit she said “ It is a great pleasure to have the esteemed delegates from CIUOB at the school today. After a brief tour and meeting the leadership team the group was able to see the programme in action. This visit is the starting point for collaboration between the school and CIUOB. I am very proud that the School and its Trustees have seen the joy and excitement in students’ eyes when they speak Mandarin. All Children at ARKS are accepting and enjoying this new language, and they are full of curiosity to know more about Chinese culture. We are very excited to offer cultural activities in collaboration with CIUOB in the future, to help students broaden their horizons by exploring the beauty of different cultures.

In attendance to the meet and greet was:

Dr. Qianwen Zhou, the Chinese director of Confucius Institute at The University of Bahrain (CIUOB),Ms. Ziwen Qi, Chinese language lecturer at CIUOB, Ms. Ziqi Ao,  Chinese language lecturer at CIUOB, Ms. Yuan Yuan Shen, Chinese language lecturer at CIUOB.