Chinese varsity, KU to support faculty-student exchange programmes

Addressing the Chinese Spring Festival Gala 2020 held at the Confucius Institutes University of Karachi to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, Prof Dr Cai Guangjie, vice president of Sichuan Normal University China, said that it was very encouraging to see that the Confucius Institute of Karachi University had grown into the largest Confucius Institute in Pakistan and achieved remarkable progress with the joint support of the KU and the SNU and continuous contribution of its co-directors and teachers.

She informed the audience that the SNU would extend its support to the KU official for the development of the Confucius Institute.

Sharing further details, KU Acting Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi said that KU and the SNU had agreed to start a four-year split degree programme on “Chinese Language and Culture” at Karachi University.

He mentioned that students would complete studies of first-two years at the CIUK, while they would be able to study for the remaining two years at the SNU, China. “This decision was made during the sixth board’s meeting of the CIUK which was held at the SNU recently.”

Dr Iraqi said that both Karachi University and the SNU would support academic cooperation and faculty-student exchange programmes. He mentioned that the University of Karachi along with the Sichuan Normal University, China, and Yonsei University in South Korea had formed the SKY Alliance.

“The SKY Alliance will no doubt promote the interaction and cooperation in the community of three universities and is the aim to build a platform to promote exchanges and cooperation with Asian universities, particularly among the three partner universities. This alliance will contribute to build a community of shared future for mankind. As part of this alliance, faculty and student exchange, as well as regional study, will be conducted within the universities of the SKY Alliance.”

The meeting was co-chaired by KU VC Prof Dr Khalid Iraqi and President SNU Wang Mingyi. Earlier, CIUK Chinese Director Prof Zhang Xiaoping and Prof Dr Muhammad Nasiruddin Khan, his counterpart at the CIUK, delivered the welcome addresses. Prof Zhang Xiaoping informed the audience that the SNU was also offering 20 scholarships to the students of Karachi University for master’s programmes in different disciplines. The KU and CIUK students are welcome to apply for these scholarships of the SNU.

He mentioned that the SNU had established Confucius Institute Affairs Office last December. The responsibility of the office was to coordinate cooperation among the Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classroom.