23 Aug 2013

Chinese school in Solomons plans to revive language tuition

12:33 pm on 23 August 2013

A Chinese primary school in the Solomon Islands capital is hoping to reintroduce Chinese language and culture into its curriculum.

"Chung Wah school, which is in Honiara's Chinatown, has been without a Chinese tutor for about two decades because of difficulties with hiring and retaining teachers."

A member of the board of trustees, Wendy Ho, says although the school caters to students of all ethnicities, it is important the curriculum honours the purpose for which Chung Wah was created - to pass on Chinese language and culture to the next generation.

She says the school sought help from China's government, which is arranging to send teachers to Honiara.

We actually have two, it's more like a voluntary programme. I'm not sure exactly what they call it. So they have actually found two and we are finalising plans for them to come over. So they will be funded by the Chinese government.

Wendy Ho says previous Chinese teachers taught Cantonese but says it is now more important to teach Mandarin because it is more widely spoken across the world.