Mandarin Mashup July 15, 2012
- Ministry considers new language - Fiji Times
THE Education Ministry is looking at the possibility of introducing Mandarin Chinese in schools. Mandarin Chinese is the official language of China and Taiwan.
According to a government statement, one billion people speak Mandarin Chinese around the world — in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and China. About one fifth of the world speaks Mandarin Chinese making it the language with the most native speakers.
It is also one of the six official languages of the UN. The others are French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and English.
"We have taught French in schools and having Mandarin Chinese as another language will certainly broaden students' understanding of other cultures," said Education Minister Filipe Bole.
"We are building a knowledge-based society and the study of Mandarin will surely inject excitement and students' keenness to discovering more, is enhanced."
Primary and secondary schools have expressed interest in teaching the language.
All primary schools are mandated to teach the iTaukei and Hindi languages. English is compulsory for primary and secondary schools.
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