Eoin Considine, a Transition Year student in Desmond College is currently enjoying a trip to China which has been organised by University College Cork (UCC) and Shanghai University.
Eoin along with a selected few TY students across Ireland will get to experience Chinese culture and society first hand. The students will visit a number of schools in Shanghai that will enable them to actively practice their Chinese, and nurture lifelong friendships and mutual understanding between Ireland and China.
The trip, which is sponsored by the Headquarters of the Confucius Institute (Hanban) in Beijing, will include sessions to discuss relations between Ireland and China.
While in Shanghai, the students will attend language classes, and learn about practical martial arts, paper cuttings, and calligraphy. They will also get to visit Shanghai, and the neighbouring cities of Suzhou and Hangzhou.
Vourneen Gavin Barry, Principal of Desmond College also travelled to China during the midterm break as part of an educational delegation organised by the Confucius Institute in UCC. The delegation visited the Confucius Headquarters in Shanghai and spent time at Shanghai University, touring the campus and meeting with a group of Irish students studying Business, Arts & Chinese, from UCC.
The delegation also visited a number of schools and met with Minister for Education & Skills, Jan O’Sullivan at Shibei Junior High School in Shanghai. Minister O’Sullivan spoke of the introduction of a Short Course on Chinese Language & Culture in the new Junior Cycle Student Award.
Desmond College intends to continue their collaboration with the Confucius Institute in UCC, in order to provide this Short Course to incoming 1st years.