In the Netherlands, Chinese is becoming more and more popular, and more students are taking the exam

More and more Dutch secondary school students are taking mandarin tests. This year, 264 students took the final exam, compared with 232 last year. When the final exam in Dutch Chinese was first held nine years ago, only 20 students took it.

It was reported by the Dutch international education organization Nuffic and the Dutch mandarin School Network.

Take mandarin as an elective

Nuffic's Michiel Dijkman says the reasons students choose the subject have everything to do with geopolitics. "The Chinese language course helps to build a bridge between China and our country. Students not only learn the language, but also the literature and culture about the country. It is a valuable asset for those students who intend to focus on China in their future work or study.

The trial that began ten years ago to offer Chinese as an elective subject in Dutch schools began ten years ago. The experiment was to see if the students were interested in learning Chinese and if they could find a teacher. Two years later, the Chinese language test began to be counted as the result of graduation. According to Nuffic, the program has grown steadily over the past 10 years. Diekman believes the number of students is likely to continue to grow in the coming years. "Last year, more than 700 students, mainly VWO students, attended the first-year Chinese course, but now interest from HAVO students is also increasing."

At the same time, there are signs. Nuffic has also heard that interest from schools tends to stagnate because offering mandarin education cannot simply be compared to offering other subjects. "It takes extra effort on the part of schools," he said. But if we value this cultural bridge, then we must continue to make things easier for schools and students."

There is no national test

Since the introduction of the Chinese course, the course is administered through school examinations, and there is no national unified examination. The last school examination was conducted before the Dutch national examination. Diekman said that mandarin is now an elective subject for students, along with Spanish, German and French, so he did not rule out a unified Chinese test, rather than a school test.Welcome to the official website of Beihaimandarin, where there are more wonderful courses.In addition to the Chinese courses for students, there are also courseware for teachers on our official website, so that more teachers can participate in it together.