Minister discusses student exchanges

Education Minister Louis Galea has returned from China where he held talks with Chinese officials on economic cooperation and educational and cultural exchanges.

The department of information said that in his last engagements the minister and Chinese officials discussed student exchanges. It said China was keen to send more students to study in Malta and would welcome Maltese who wished to study Chinese or follow specialised courses in China. Talks on this subject will continue.

Talks on cooperation between the University of Malta and Chinese universities and vocational collages were also held.

Some 450,000 Chinese out of a student population of 340 million currently study abroad.

The minister said Malta was not aiming to attract a large number of Chinese students but wanted to maintain a mix of foreign students including those from Europe and Arab nations. Chinese students studying abroad, he said, did not want to end up in lecture rooms full of Chinese students.