CBSE initiates Chinese in Class VI

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will include Chinese language in Class VI from the current academic session in view of China emerging as one of the major global economies, and Mandarin being spoken widely across the globe.

The CBSE will hold an interaction programme on Thursday for school principals in Delhi and National Capital Region, who are interested in adopting this course. Training programmes will also help teachers understand the fundamentals.

According to CBSE, the general objectives of learning Mandarin is to build proficiency in listening, reading, writing and speaking skills, and build confidence among learners and enable students to explore career possibilities.

“Keeping in mind the imminent need of empowering teachers and building their capacity to take up teaching Mandarin, CBSE will use an online learning platform,” stated a CBSE circular.

Tutor will teach basics of the language, which include “pinyin” charts, tones and greetings with the help of software. Pinyin charts are used to translate Mandarin to English.

Tutor services

CBSE plans to offer tutor services to a limited number of schools in the NCR to teach the beginner module. “Assessments will be made every month and feedback will be given by tutors. The curriculum and textbooks are being developed by eminent scholars in this field,” said a CBSE official.

CBSE offers 32 languages in secondary and senior secondary levels, of which 12 are foreign languages.

After negotiations with Hanban, the institute nominated by the Chinese education ministry, a memorandum of understanding for collaboration was approved by the ministry of external affairs and the department of industrial policy and promotion to include the language in CBSE curriculum.

The proposal of including Mandarin in Class VI was earlier discussed with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and five Kendriya Vidyalayas in the NCR were selected for the pilot project.