Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On September 14, 2017, the Confucius Institute at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus and the Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity (BIMAP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which the former pledged to provide assistance in establishing a Chinese Language and Culture curriculum at the BIMAP. The assistance includes providing qualified teachers of Chinese language and culture, providing relevant teaching materials to BIMAP students, and administering the Business Chinese test. The agreement was to be valid from September 2017 to December 2018, at which point the implementation of the MOU would be reviewed and longer-term cooperation considered. The Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) helped facilitate initial contact between the Chinese Embassy and BIMAP. As of August 2020, a Chinese language and culture class was offered at BIMAP, though the program's continued connection with the Confucius Institute is unknown.
Staff comments
The source from UWI gives the MOU signing date as September 25, 2018. However, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Relations source, as well as two sources from the Barbadian media, put the signing date on September 14, 2017. Because the majority of sources, including an official source, agree on September 14, 2017, this date was used for the project.