China News Service, Manila, December 23 (Xinhua) -- Why has Chinese education become a bridge for people-to-people exchanges between China and the Philippines?
Interview with Huang Duanming, Chairman of the Philippine Chinese Education Center.
Author: Zhang Xinglong, Jiang Yufeng.
Chinese education in the Philippines has a history of more than 120 years. During this period, what important stages of Chinese education in the Philippines have gone through?What are the opportunities and challenges we are facing?As an important carrier of inheriting the cultural characteristics of the Filipino-Chinese ethnic group, how can Chinese education contribute to the development of multiculturalism in the Philippines and the people-to-people exchanges between China and the Philippines?Huang Duanming, chairman of the Philippine Chinese Education Center, recently gave an exclusive interview to China News Service's "East-West Question" in Manila to answer this question.
The transcript of the interview is summarized below
China News Service: Please give us an overview of the history and current situation of Chinese education in the Philippines.
Huang Duanming: Since the establishment of the first overseas Chinese school in 1899, Chinese education in the Philippines has gone through 124 years of development. In the 70s of the 20th century, the Philippines issued a decree to implement "Filipinoization" of overseas Chinese schools across the country, which became an important turning point in the history of Chinese education in the Philippines. Prior to this, Chinese education mainly referred to overseas Chinese education, which was aimed at Chinese in the Philippines and aimed at cultivating talents for ChinaAfter the decree, Chinese education was changed to be oriented to Filipino Chinese, with the goal of cultivating Filipinos.
For more than 100 years, in order to maintain their national language and culture, overseas Chinese in the Philippines have established more than 300 Chinese schools across the country. Due to factors such as war, natural disasters and lack of human and financial resources, more than half of the schools have been closed. As of this year, there are 148 Chinese schools still in operation in the Philippines, 16 of which have a history of more than 100 years. According to the regulations, in addition to teaching the mainstream curriculum stipulated by the Philippine Ministry of Education, Chinese schools will also offer up to two hours of Chinese classes per day, and most schools use local Chinese teaching materials developed by the Philippine Chinese Education Center. At present, there are more than 70,000 students and about 1,200 Chinese teachers in the Chinese school.
Huang Duanming: Why has Chinese education become a bridge for people-to-people exchanges between China and the Philippines?
Chinese schools in the Philippines mainly rely on the Chinese community to raise funds spontaneously for their operations. Although it has never received financial support, the Chinese school has cultivated many outstanding talents in various fields for the national construction of the Philippines and the friendly exchanges between the Philippines and China, and has become a valuable educational asset of the Philippines.
China News Service: What are the opportunities and challenges for the development of Chinese education in the Philippines?What can I do?
Huang Duanming: Chinese education in the Philippines has a long history and fruitful results, but in recent years, it has also faced many challenges, such as a shortage of students. In order to ensure the sustainable development of Chinese education, educators need to actively adapt to changes and promote the transformation, upgrading and innovative development of Chinese education.
In the context of the new era, Chinese education should not only be an important project for cultural inheritance, but also an important platform for promoting exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations. To this end, Chinese education needs to transform from a single language and cultural education to a composite model of "Chinese education + vocational education", and cultivate comprehensive talents with multilingual ability, cross-cultural understanding and professional skills.
In addition, Chinese education also needs to use the power of science and technology to transform from traditional teaching methods to smart education to achieve truly high-quality development. At present, the Philippines is steadily promoting the pilot work of "Chinese Education + Vocational Education" and "Smart Chinese School". In mid-December this year, the Philippine Chinese Education Center also signed a memorandum of cooperation on "Chinese Education + Vocational Education" with the China Vocational Education Society of Fujian Province, China, aiming to promote the "school-school-enterprise" cooperation project to take root in the Philippine Chinese School. These measures will not only contribute to the transformation and development of Chinese education, but also provide more diversified educational options and broader development space for Chinese school students.
China News Service: What role does Chinese education play in the cultural inheritance of Filipino-Chinese society?
Huang Duanming: Chinese education plays a vital role in the Filipino-Chinese society and is a key way to pass on culture. As Filipino-Chinese society is dominated by industry and commerce, many family elders need to devote a lot of time to business activities, and children have fewer opportunities to learn about Chinese culture through family interaction. As a result, Chinese education has become the main way for the descendants of overseas Chinese to learn Chinese culture.
The traditional function of Chinese education is to preserve the national language and culture. Over the past 100 years, Chinese education in the Philippines has been challenging but has always adhered to its original intention and made important contributions to the inheritance and preservation of the cultural identity of the Filipino-Chinese community. Over time, Chinese education has also become an important part of the Philippines' multiculturalism by integrating Chinese culture into the local culture through the Chinese community. Today, the extensive influence of Chinese culture can be clearly seen in many areas such as language, food, customs and religion in the Philippines.
On December 2, local time, the awarding ceremony of the "Chinese Ambassador Education**" Chinese Language Teacher Award and Chinese School Student Award and Bursary held by the Philippine Chinese Education Center was held in Manila. The picture shows Shi Zhengding (middle), a high school student from Yuren High School in the Philippines, receiving a scholarship. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Xinglong.
China News Service: As an integral part of the Philippine education system, what role does Chinese education play in China-Philippines cooperation and exchanges in the field of education?What is the significance of enhancing the cultural awareness of the people of the two countries?
Huang Duanming: The Chinese School in the Philippines has established an extensive platform for exchanges and interactions with schools at all levels in China through the Chinese Education Center, not only organizing teachers and students to go to China for training and exchanges, but also carrying out various Chinese cultural activities in the Philippines.
Since 1991, the Chinese Education Center has organized Filipino teenagers to participate in summer (winter) camps in China, and the number of participants has grown from more than 20 people to more than 1,000 people a year, which is enough to show the popularity of such activities among the younger generation. This kind of personal visit experience has an irreplaceable role in helping Filipino teenagers to have a correct understanding of China and break down possible cultural misunderstandings.
Since 2004, the Chinese Education Center has also participated in the "China into the Classroom" knowledge competition, which has been successfully held for more than 10 sessions, attracting many mainstream middle school students from the Philippines to participate and being recognized by the Philippine education community. It is understood that in order to prepare for the annual competition, all middle schools have also included books on the popularization of Chinese history and culture into the compulsory course of "sociology".
Shi Zhengding, a high school student from Yuren Middle School in the Philippines and the winner of the title of "Little Cultural Ambassador" of the China Soong Ching Ling Association, has visited China many times through cultural exchange activities, visiting the Great Wall of China, experiencing Chinese martial arts, tasting Chinese food and ......After returning to the Philippines, he also shared what he saw and heard in China with those around him, and became a real envoy to promote Chinese exchanges in the Philippines.
The Chinese School in the Philippines has produced many students like Shi Zhengding, who have traveled between the Philippines and China, and eventually become the connector and communicator between the two cultures. Young people are the cornerstone and hope of the future relationship between the Philippines and China. A trickle of water merges into the sea. It is believed that their efforts will gradually converge into a powerful force and jointly write a new chapter in the friendly exchanges between the Philippine and Chinese peoples. (ENDS).
Interviewee Profile:
Huang Duanming, Chairman of the Philippine Chinese Education Center. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Xinglong.
Huang Duanming, President of the Philippine Chinese Education Center, has been engaged in Chinese education research and management for a long time. In 2021, Huang Duanming was awarded the "Friend of the Embassy" Award by the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines for his important contributions to the development of Chinese language education in the Philippines.