UK private schools' Beijing link

The Chinese government is to fund the teaching of Mandarin and Chinese culture in 10 UK independent schools. It will pay for teachers to come from China and for software in a scheme that will involve school twinning and pupil trips to China. Brighton College, where all children learn Mandarin from the age of three, is spear-heading the scheme in the UK. In the spring, 10 independent school head teachers will travel to Beijing to sign agreements with the Chinese government for what is being called the Confucius programme.

Wednesday 3 October 2007
BBC website