Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Djauhari Oratmangun, and Secretary General of the ASEAN-China Center, Chen Dehai, visited the Center for Language Education Cooperation (CLEC), Ministry of Education of China. The group was received by the Director General (DG) of CLEC, Ma Jianfei. This visit was carried out in order to strengthen cooperation in Chinese language teaching and the establishment of Mandarin Language and Innovation Centers at six Indonesian universities, namely Gajah Mada University (UGM), Padjadjaran University (Unpad), Yogyakarta State University (UNY), London School of Public Relations. (LSPR), Ciputra University and Pancasila University.
Djauhari Oratmangun expressed his appreciation to CLEC for making a positive contribution in improving the quality of teachers, principals and lecturers through training activities that have just been completed. The training activities in question are training for vocational education teachers in logistics management, e-commerce and computer technology, as many as 900 people; leadership training for school principals at all levels as many as 600 people; as well as training for 600 Mandarin teachers and lecturers.
“This activity has a positive impact because it is hoped that the participants can disseminate the knowledge they have gained to school principals or other teachers in their respective cities,” said Djauhari, in Beijing, Monday (27/6).
The visit also discussed the facilitation of requests from six universities in Indonesia to establish a Mandarin Language and Innovation Center. The presence of this Language Center as a center for teaching Chinese culture and language, presenting vocational training, organizing the Chinese Cultural Festival, debriefing students who will go to China, sending teaching assistants in teaching Mandarin, organizing winter and summer camp activities to China and technology transfer activities. through training and research development at partner universities.
“We will soon realize the proposed establishment of Language and Innovation Centers in the six universities,” he said.
The presence of these six centers will further strengthen Mandarin language diplomacy efforts and demonstrate the Chinese government’s commitment to increasing the resources of teachers, principals and lecturers through training, university partnerships, joint research and scholarships. CLEC will also provide assistance to 35 Smart Classroom units, which are technological innovations to foster interest in learning Chinese and improve the quality of virtual learning for Chinese language teachers for all levels of education.
“As an appreciation for the efforts made by the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing in strengthening various cooperation in the field of language diplomacy, CLEC awarded Djauhari Oratmangun as Senior Advisor Center for Language Education Cooperation,” said the Director General of CLEC.
In addition to training many education activists, the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing noted that CLEC has provided scholarships for 2,749 Indonesian teachers and lecturers for undergraduate, masters and doctoral programs. “The number of scholarships from CLEC will continue to be increased in line with the increasing interest in Mandarin in Indonesia,” said Yaya Sutarya, Education Attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing.
Therefore, Yaya hopes that this opportunity can be used by many universities in Indonesia to improve the quality of lecturers and the quality of management of study programs, especially Mandarin.