«This is a historic day in cooperation between Beijing and Riga in the field of education», said RTU Deputy Rector for International Academic Co-operation and Studies, Professor Igors Tipāns, before signing the agreement on student exchange between Riga Technical University (RTU) and Beijing International Studies University (BISU).
The Signing Ceremony took place on 27 March, during the visit of Beijing municipal government and BISU delegation to Riga City Council, in the presence of Vice Mayor of Beijing Zhang Gong and Vice Mayor of Riga Andris Ameriks. The agreement was signed by RTU Rector, Academician Leonīds Ribickis and the President of BISU Ji Jinbiao.
The agreement stipulates that BISU students, who have been studying Latvian under the guidance of the Latvian language instructor of RTU at BISU in Beijing for two years, in the 2018/2019 academic year will study at the Bachelor professional study programme «Technical Translation» implemented by the Faculty of E-Learning Technologies and Humanities of RTU. The credit points that students will acquire at RTU will be recognised by BISU. The study programme also includes an intensive Latvian language course and various cultural activities for students.
«We are pleased that RTU, which is a well-known and highly valued university of engineering sciences and technology in the Baltic States and abroad, and BISU, which is a humanitarian higher education institution specialising in literature and foreign languages, have found mutually complementary forms of cooperation», said the President of BISU. BISU specialises in teaching less widespread languages in Europe, and 46 students are currently studying Latvian at BISU.
I. Tipāns pointed out that RTU had been purposefully working on cooperation between RTU and Chinese higher education institutions for several years, but most closely it was established exactly with BISU. As a result of cooperation between the two universities, the programme «2+ 1+1+3» is being implemented now. Within the framework of the programme, the group of 20 Chinese students were studying at the secondary school in China and at the same time acquiring Latvian under the guidance of RTU instructor. One academic year – from autumn 2017 to the end of June 2018 – they continue learning the Latvian language in Latvia as well as acquiring other study courses delivered by instructors of the Faculty of E-Learning Technologies and Humanities of RTU. At the end of June, the students will return to Beijing, where they will complete their secondary education in order to come back to Latvia in one year, where they will begin their studies at one of RTU programmes. Financial support for the implementation of cooperation projects between both universities is provided by the municipality of Beijing.
During the visit, the BISU and Beijing delegation met with the Chinese students studying in Latvia within the cooperation project between RTU and BISU, and visited RTU Campus in Ķīpsala, where they got acquainted with the Design Factory and met with the Dean of the Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications (FET), Professor Jurģis Poriņš. The FET has a cooperation agreement with a Chinese technology company, which stipulates that in June a group of FET students will undertake internship at the company by participating in training related to 5G technologies and other topics in the telecommunications sector.
