The Ministry of Education is pursuing the possibility of having Mandarin Chinese taught in schools around the country.
Mandarin Chinese is the official language of the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan.
The Chinese Embassy in Fiji and the Ministry of Education are working collaboratively to facilitate this proposal.
One billion people speak Mandarin Chinese around the world including Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China. About one fifth of the world speaks Mandarin Chinese making it the language with the most native speakers.
Mandarin Chinese is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
The other five languages are French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and English.
Meanwhile, all primary schools in the country are mandated to teach i-Taukei language and Hindi. English however is the compulsory subject for both primary and secondary schools.
