The university’s “Cheena Bhavan” has been entrusted with the task of teaching the language to the soldiers, officiating vice-chancellor of the university Swapan Kumar Dutta said.
“Aimed at mental enrichment of the Army personnel, the course imparted by teachers of Cheena Bhavan will introduce them with the rich Chinese culture and the centuries-old tie between the two nations,” he said.
Since its inception in 1937, the ‘Cheena Bhavan’ had been working towards creating awareness about Chinese culture in the country, Dutta said.
Hence, “the certificate course should not be seen in isolation, but rather part of a cultural exchange process continuing for eight decades,” he said.
An MoU was inked between the Visva-Bharati University and the Army s Eastern Command in February – for educational cooperation and facilitating academic exchange programmes – signed by the Registrar on behalf of Visva-Bharati and Brigadier General Staff(Training) on behalf of HQ Eastern Command.
Referring to Cheena Bhavan’s other initiatives, Dutta said, “While our students are being recognised internationally for their command over the language, in China students of the institute who are part of the exchange programme with Cheena Bhavan organise Bengali cultural events at their campus and sing ‘Rabindra Sangeet’,” he said.
“We are working on Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s vision in broadening the mind through linguistic and cultural exchanges,” he said.
He said the Chinese Consulate had extended all help to set up a ‘Modern Chinese Laboratory’ with modern equipment at Cheena Bhavan.