Yanshan State University
Yanshan State University in China has entered into an agreement with the BIUST Chinese Unit in 2021. The main purpose of the collaboration is to assist the Chinese Unit to become a fully-fledged Confucius Institute and to effectively offer Chinese courses to the BIUST students and the members of the public. The collaboration will be administered by the Department of Academic Literacy and Social Sciences under the Centre for Business Management, Entrepreneurship and General Education. The two universities will also collaborate in other areas of teaching and research, staff and student exchange and professional development of teaching and non-teaching staff. The collaboration will initially be for three years and will be eligible for further renewal.
Confucius Institute of University of Botswana
BIUST entered into collaboration with the Confucius Institute of University of Botswana (CIUB) in 2015. The collaboration enabled BIUST to set up a Chinese Unit which offers Chinese courses to BIUST students as credit elective courses. The ability to speak and write in Chinese has given BIUST graduates a competitive edge in the job market over their peers from other universities. For instance, big Chinese companies operating in Botswana prefer to employ graduates who can speak, read, write in Chinese and understand the Chinese language. The Unit also offers Chinese courses to members of the public that lead to HSK qualifications up to Level 6. The HSK qualification is specifically provided for non-native speakers of the Chinese language. Through this collaboration, CIUB provides the teaching staff and material while BIUST provides resources for teaching as well as accommodation and transport for the Chinese teachers. In 2020 BIUST became the HSK examination Centre. Due to this status, BIUST can host HSK examinations. This arrangement is mutually beneficial to CIUB and BIUST in that CIUB students in the northern part of the country can write their examinations at BIUST instead of travelling to Gaborone to do so. Similarly, BIUST students and adult learners registered for HSK examinations can also write their examinations at BIUST without having to travel to Gaborone to take the examinations at CIUB. The collaboration is still valid, and both parties are looking for ways to strengthen it.
