Date: Nov. 06, 2009

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Australia is committed to continuing its support for Mandarin education in Australia through the 2009 ACT Mandarin Presentation Contest, in which 300 students took part from 10 educational institutions in the Australian Capital Territory.

The 2009 ACT Mandarin Presentation Contest was conducted in each individual school and university throughout May to September.  The 10 educational institutions that registered this year were Mawson Primary school, Canberra High School, Melrose High School, Canberra College, Lake Ginninderra College, Melba Copland Secondary School, Narrabundah College, Dickson College, the Australian National University and the University of Canberra.

The three most outstanding students from each school were honourably awarded a Certificate of Achievement at the 2009 ACT Mandarin Presentation Contest Award Ceremony, held on 6 November 2009 at the ACT Teaching and Learning Center in Stirling.  At the award ceremony, students showcased their excellent skills in Mandarin through vivid performances including chanting, singing Taiwanese pop songs, and performing traditional Chinese folk drama.

In addition to the students, teachers and school principals, the award ceremony was attended by Ms Trish Wilks, Director of Curriculum Support and Professional Learning from ACT Department of Education and Training (DET), Mr Kevin Wang, Deputy Representative of TECO in Australia, Dr Michael Kindler, Manager of DET Curriculum Support P-12, and Mr Yuri Chih, Executive Director of Cultural Division, TECO.

Director Wilks expressed her sincere appreciation to all the participating schools and TECO, and will continue to support language learning and teaching in the ACT educational community.