江苏留学网

A total of 229 students from 13 primary and secondary schools in Jiangsu province recently returned from a two week exchange trip to the southeastern Australian state of Victoria.

Victoria and Jiangsu have enjoyed a fruitful sister-state relationship for 37 years and on July 27 students gathered to hear the words of Linda Dessau, Governor of Victoria.

Speaking at the midpoint of the visit, Dessau remarked that this most recent exchange had deepened her understanding of this transnational relationship. She also spoke of her satisfaction at the continued cooperation in multiple areas, in particular education.

Lastly, she expressed her hope that the visiting teachers and students were able to enjoy themselves while working hard at improving their language skills.

Gill Callister, Secretary of the state’s Department of Education and Training, praised the exchange program. She encouraged schools from Jiangsu and Victoria to take advantage of the platform and carry out a wider range of exchanges in the future.

Tian Yiju, director at Jiangsu Education Services for International Exchange (JESIE), has overseen the exchanges conducted between Jiangsu and Victoria since the inception of the sister-state relationship in 1981.

Tian lauded the remarkable achievements of these educational exchanges and noted that this level of cooperation directly benefited the capabilities of primary and middle school students from both countries.

Started in 1996, the two-week exchange program sponsored by JESIE offers students and teachers from Jiangsu the opportunity to study in respective sister schools in Victoria and live with local families. A total of 150 schools in Jiangsu have established sister relationships with a counterpart school in Victoria.