UCFV president Skip Bassford and School District 34 superintendent Robin Arden rubbed shoulders with some prestigious company in China recently. The Abbotsford duo accepted an invitation to the centennial celebration for Beijing Normal University . The president of China , Jiang Zemin, spoke at the festivities, which were attended by more than 6,000 people, including university presidents from all over Asia and Europe . Dr. Arden and Dr. Bassford were the only Canadian educators to attend. They called it a great opportunity to network with contacts in education from many parts of the world.  

Both UCFV and SD #34 have established several educational relationships in China . The Abbotsford School District regularly hosts up to 150 Chinese secondary students, and 162 Chinese students currently attend UCFV.  

SD #34 has recently received approval from the Ministry of Education to offer the B. C. curriculum through the Offshore Education program in Shenzhen, a city of 10 million people near Hong Kong .  

UCFV is working in partnership with Beijing Concord College of Sino-Canada to offer a computer systems degree, partly in China and partly at UCFV’s Abbotsford campus. The university college is also working on setting up exchanges and other programs with Beijing Normal, which started as a teacher training institute but which is exploring new academic and applied areas.  

“The Chinese government has directed Beijing Normal to focus on comprehensive research with an international focus,” says Dr. Bassford. “We hope to work in partnership with them in several ways to the benefit of both of our institutions and nations. This could include student and faculty exchanges, and offering UCFV courses or programs there. China is making massive investments in education as it attempts to boost post-secondary participation and create a more highly skilled and educated workforce.”  

International students stimulate the Fraser Valley economy, help provide more spaces for Canadian students through their unsubsidized tuition fees, and add a multicultural dimension to classes at UCFV and Abbotsford secondary schools.  

“The international ties are sources of educational enrichment, both for students who encounter international students in their classes here and for those who participate in exchanges,” says Dr. Bassford. “They form friendships that will last a lifetime, and, as their careers develop, will also stimulate significant economic interaction between Canada and other countries.”

 The Abbotsford School District has been making connections in China for several years, and Dr. Arden attended the ceremony partly in acknowledgement of the many Chinese secondary students studying in Abbotsford.  

“The Chinese president spoke at length about the high level of support for education,” notes Dr. Arden. “It is an important part of the government’s push for social and economic development. They are moving rapidly to catch up to, and perhaps surpass, the rest of the world.”