Thousands of pupils across the United Kingdom are to be given Mandarin lessons in a government bid to double the amount of Mandarin learners in the UK by 2019.
It has been announced that more than 1,200 specialist Mandarin teachers will be trained in the subject to give public (state) school pupils the same opportunities to learn Mandarin, as those in private schools.
Education Minister Elizabeth Truss said The Conficus Institute – a new Mandarin teacher training center, would be set up in at the Institute of Education, London next year to help elevate the profile of the “language of the future”.
