On the morning of April 21^st, the 2023, Mandarin Training for the Caribbean Teacher Training Course was successfully launched after two years of intensive preparation. The course is organized by the Cave Hill Campus Center for Professional Development and Lifelong Learning (CPDLL), the Center for English Language Learning (CELL) and the Confucius Institute (CI) at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados.

The   course is aimed at Caribbean professionals who intend to engage in the teaching of Mandarin and Chinese culture within the region. It lasts for 6 months and has a total of 151 class hours. Most of the course content will be delivered online.

David Bulbulia, Barbadian CI Co-Director, chaired  the meeting.

Professor Frederick Ochieng’-Odhiambo, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, at the Cave Hill Campus delivered welcome remarks at the launch along with Renaldo Arthur, Director of the Office of Business Development, explaining the purpose and background of the course.

Dr. Li Renyan, Chinese Co-Director of the CI, introduced the specifics of the Chinese teaching on behalf of the CI. She outlined four aspects: "Why was this course launched?" "What is this course?" "Why this course?" and "What can you get from this course?" With clear questions, succinct answers and committed support, she argued that such a course is a worthwhile option for anyone who is interested in teaching Chinese in the future. Dr. Li Renyan, and Cao Chunyan, the person in charge of the course, answered questions online one by one regarding course registration requirements, class start time, and whether the course is a full-time course or part time. Dr. Stacy Denny, Director of the CELL introduced the centre and part of the teaching content of the course.
Whilst based in Barbados, the Mandarin Training for the Caribbean Teacher Training Course " is designed to appeal to  a cross section of Caribbean Island countries, taking  advantage of the University of the West Indies, which is  in a unique position to launch courses for the entire English-speaking Caribbean.

In order to create high-quality courses, the Confucius Institute has held a series of workshops for teachers and language and culture training for local teachers every semester starting from August 2021. So far, it has completed a total of 5 semesters and 29 seminars and workshops on several themes.

 At the same time, the experience of the drafting team of the Caribbean Examinations Council working on the Mandarin Syllabus of the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) has made the CI  in Barbados better prepared for Chinese teaching topics, classroom activity design, and cultural teaching. In addition, the CI in cooperation with the Chinese Plus, has opened a Barbados - Chinese cloud classroom. At present, the preliminary work has been completed and the launch of the course is expected.

The successful opening of the Mandarin Training for the Caribbean Teacher Training Course will help to further promote the sustainable development of Chinese education and contribute to the development of Chinese teaching in the Caribbean.

The event commemorated the 8th anniversary of the establishment of the CI in Barbados and is also one in a series of celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill.