China, Thailand to exchange teachers

BANGKOK, June 24 (TNA) - China and Thailand have agreed to exchange educational and cultural systems in which both countries will send language instructors to train children of their countries in preparations for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which will kick off in 2015, said Education Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech. The agreement was made after Suchart held a meeting with Xu Lin, director-general of HANBAN which is Chinese National Office for teaching Chinese as a foreign language, and representatives of Chinese education institutes. Under the agreement, according Suchart, 10,000 Chinese language instructors will be sent to teach Chinese to Thai pupils. Thailand will dispatch between 500 – 1,000 Thai language instructors to teach Thai to Chinese graduates for six months. Both sides also discussed the possibility of extending Thai language course now taught at 24 Chinese universities. Currently, more than 1,200 Chinese language instructors are teaching Chinese to Thai students annually as part of an assistance given to the kingdom. (TNA)