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A model of educational success2012-5-24 16:39:00 From: http://www.china.org.cn
Francis Pang had a tight schedule earlier this month for his trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Over two days, he had two meetings with his counterparts from Canadian University of Dubai (CUD), visited six candidate sites for his first school in the Middle-East and finally, signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai Education CEO and CUD President Karim Chelli for the school. Fifteen years after the Chinese-Canadian educator and businessman founded the Beijing Concord College of Sino-Canada (BCCSC) on the outskirts of the capital, he is expanding his educational kingdom beyond China and neighboring Asian countries. What he will export is his "education model", which has successfully combined the traditional Chinese education system with the Canadian way of teaching. "The MoU allows us to proceed with the Dubai university as a partner to establish the Concord College of Sino-Canada in Dubai," says Pang, who is chairman of the board of AKD International Education Inc in Canada. "This new school will use the BCCSC dual diploma model, so it will be managed and operated by the BCCSC team. Other than English subjects and some Arabian studies, Chinese will be one of the compulsory courses." CUD executive vice-president Muhammed Kabir has known Pang for more than 10 years and says that BCCSC's unique curriculum, with Canadian courses integrated into Chinese high school courses, and its multi-language teaching experience, were among the reasons why they invited Pang to Dubai four years ago. "The new school will be able to offer multi-language courses to students from kindergarten to senior high," Kabir says. "English, French, Arabian and of course, Mandarin In a regional center like Dubai, where more than 70 percent of its 2 million population are foreigners and expats, this will be a major attraction." The Chinese language will be a standalone subject that all students have to learn and Chinese culture will be an integrated subject in world history, Pang says. "Chinese subjects are widely accepted in many countries, as many parents would like to see their children learn the Chinese language and find out more about its culture, as it is the future of communication and business." Pang's model puts an emphasis on basic education - including mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology - and Chinese teachers have strengthened this aspect. "Combining the best of Eastern and Western education systems, I think ours is the best 21st century education model," he says. "It should be attractive to 21st century talents." Following a grand 15th anniversary ceremony at the Beijing Exhibition Center Theater on Sunday, the Beijing Concord College is the first joint cooperative boarding college in Beijing, offering bilingual courses for senior high school and post-secondary education. During the past 15 years, more than 4,000 school graduates made it to more than 300 universities in some 20 countries. The success of the education model in China has helped Pang open a number of schools in other Chinese cities such as Shenzhen, Anhui province's Wuhu, Hebei province's Beidaihe, Guangdong's Dongguan and Zhuhai, and Jiangsu's Xuzhou, while Chengsha, Chongqing, Harbin and Suzhou will also have one. More than 10,000 students have graduated from the schools with a Chinese and Canadian high school diploma. All were accepted at universities worldwide, with 83 percent awarded scholarships by overseas universities. Nearly 70 percent of them studied at graduate schools. Some other countries' education departments, educators or schools have learned all about Pang and his team over the years, as the Beijing Concord College is a member of the UNESCO Beijing Chapter Association - and through its Canadian counterpart, the New Brunswick Department of Education. "Many, like the Dubai university, started inviting us to open schools in their respective countries," Pang says. Pang's Cambodia school will open in September, while the Dubai school is scheduled to open in 2013. Total:1 Page: 1
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