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SCMP Reporter

WITH its long tradition of international links, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is ideally placed to act as a cultural melting pot for local and international students.

  This role has been played by the International Asian Studies Programme (IASP) for nearly 20 years.

  ''In a very broad sense, we are acting as a bridge towards international education,'' said Maria Tam Siu-mi, acting director of the Office of International Studies Programme (OISP), which administers the programme.

  ''By taking in foreign students, we create a more diverse cultural environment on campus so local and foreign students learn about each other's cultures.''     The IASP was established in 1976 with the co-sponsorship of the Yale-China Association. The programme was a response to growing interest in Asian and Chinese studies and to many requests from the international academic community for study opportunitiesin a Chinese environment.

  After several years, the office co-ordinating the IASP outgrew its original role of simply providing an academic curriculum and services for incoming students.

  As a result, the OISP came into existence in 1985, co-ordinating the arrival of international students and sending CUHK students to overseas institutions.

  Since the first group of IASP students arrived in 1977, the programme has admitted more than 1,000 students.

  Former IASP participants have come from 27 different countries and more than 230 colleges and universities.

  Programme assistant Josephine Fuh Mak said it was compulsory for all overseas undergraduates studying at the CUHK to join the IASP programme.

  She said students attending the IASP programme could take other courses - other than medicine - offered by the university.

  Students usually attend IASP courses for a year, although some only join for a semester.

  IASP courses cover a wide variety of subjects, including Chinese culture, language history and literature.

  According to executive officer Michael Quigley, there are 101 students enrolled in this year's IASP programme. Students from the United States make up 60 per cent, and Japanese students another 25 per cent.

  He said there were only a few students from Scandinavian countries this year but interest from the area appeared to be growing.

  Mr Quigley, who attended the programme as a student in 1986, said there had been steady growth over the years.

  The extra-curricular activities of the students revolve around Chinese culture, such as tai-chi, calligraphy and music. There is even a lion dance formed by the students.

  Mr Quigley said IASP students had been conducting a regular English tutorial programme at a children's centre in Zengcheng, a small rural community in eastern Guangdong province.

  ''The students get the chance to travel to China and to see at first-hand life on the mainland. We also collect books, teaching materials and clothes from friends, students and our alumni to give to the children.''   The teaching programme is voluntary and students go up in groups of six.

  IASP students also conduct regular English and Japanese tutorials at an academy, catering for 16 to 21 year olds, in Shantou.

    He said English classes were conducted at elementary, intermediary and advanced levels.

  He said students also put together the teaching text for pupils and were in the process of printing the Japanese-language book.

  IASP participants also had the opportunity to teach in Hong Kong high schools and Vietnamese refugee camps.



Diversity adds understanding to education