Three new Confucius classrooms were recently approved by the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language and Confucius Institute Headquarters. The classrooms were proposed by the BJUT Opole Confucius Institute, which has locations in three Polish unviersities: the University of Silesia, Silesia University of Technology and Bialystok University of Technology.
The three universities are members of the China-Poland University Alliance. The successful application for the three Confucius Classrooms shows that the Chinese language teaching and cultural promotion of the BJUT Opole Confucius Institute is recognized by the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language. This also marks a new chapter in exchange and cooperation between Beijing University of Technology, Opole University of Technology and Polish universities.
The Opole Confucius Institute is a Confucius Institute jointly established in 2008 by Beijing University of Technology and the Opole University of Technology in Poland. It has retained the support of the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language and has been greatly strengthened by the promotion of both universities, through the efforts of successive Deans of the Opole Confucius Institute and Chinese language teachers and volunteers. The Opole Confucius Institute is dedicated to the promotion of Chinese language and culture teaching and actively promotes the deep cultural exchanges and cooperation between the two universities and both countries. It has become an important platform for the teaching of Chinese language and culture n the region. The Opole Confucius Institute currently has 9 full-time staff, including 4 Polish and 5 Chinese employees. There are 4 classes in business Chinese, 26 Chinese classes for college students, 13 for middle school students, and 11 for elementary school students, with the total number of students at 534.
Founded in 1968, the University of Silesia is one of the largest comprehensive universities in Poland. It has four campuses located in Katowice, Sosnowiec, Horov and Cieszyn. University of Silesia has a total of 76 majors and more than 240 orientations. It currently has about 26,000 undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and adult students studying full and part-time. In July 2018, Beijing University of Technology selected a delegation of 30 students to go to the University of Silesia in Poland for a one-month summer exchange.
Founded in 1945, Silesia University of Technology is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Poland. Silesia is one of the most developed industrial areas in Poland and Europe. The university has 13 colleges, including nearly 60 disciplines and nearly 200 majors, with a focus on engineering, technology and architecture. There are about 22,000 full and part-time undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students. In October 2018, Beijing University of Technology signed an inter-school student exchange agreement with Silesia University of Technology.
Founded in 1997, Bialystok University of Technology, whose predecessor was the Private Engineering Institute (Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Department), established in 1949, is one of the largest and most powerful academic centers in northeastern Poland. There are nine colleges at Bialystok University of Technology, including a foreign college in Vilnius. At present, the university has 17,000 students and is involved in nearly 30 professional fields. In addition, the university offers approximately 100 different graduate programs.