The Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has donated three educational robots to St. Mary’s College (SMC), which will benefit the school’s robotics programme.

The robots, Zenbo Junior, were produced by Taiwanese company, ASUS, and programmed by SMC’s Robotics Club, and were featured at this year’s opening ceremony of the Saint Lucia-Taiwan Partnership Trade Show held on November 2. At the opening ceremony, the robots’ dancing routine demonstrated the students’ coding and programming abilities.

HE Peter Chia-Yen Chen, Taiwan’s Ambassador to Saint Lucia, handed over the three robots to Mr. Neal Fontenelle, Principal of St. Mary’s College, during a one-hour assembly themed “The Mandarin Journey” held in the school’s auditorium on the afternoon of Thursday, November 23.

Groups of Form Two students sang songs in Mandarin, performed skits, and expressed their individual experiences since starting to learn the foreign language, while a group of teachers sang in Mandarin. Two students also entertained the audience with steel pan music.

In his remarks, Ambassador Chen stated that he was pleased that the school’s teachers and students were progressing in speaking Mandarin, the language spoken by a large majority if the Taiwanese population. He said learning the language not only empower those who embrace it, but can also bring them opportunities to study overseas.

Ambassador Chen added that investing in education is among the best commitments a country can make to its citizens, noting that Taiwan will continue to provide top-notch education opportunities for young people in Saint Lucia.

“Providing Mandarin learning opportunities is always one of the priority works of this Embassy,” said Ambassador Chen. “Apart from the Mandarin Pioneer Program implemented at St. Mary’s College and St. Joseph’s Convent, we have organized training classes with the Department of Public Service, Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, and the Royal St. Lucia Police Force.” 

In its efforts to promote the speaking of Mandarin in Saint Lucia, the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has commissioned Ms. Nana Yu-Ling Lin, a Mandarin teacher from the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM), to teach the language at St. Mary’s College and St. Joseph’s Convent.

Hon. Shawn Edward, Minister for Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, thanked Ambassador Chen for the donation, saying these simple acts of generosity by Taiwan towards Saint Lucia continue to forge greater bonds of respect and friendship between the two nations.

“Taiwan has proven to be a very friend for Saint Lucia, and have donated resources to our country to undertake projects in many areas of national development,” Hon. Edward stated. “They have helped us with laptops in schools, with our policing challenges, and continue to do wonderful work in the area of agriculture.”

In thanking Ambassador Chen for the generous donation, Principal Fontenelle said he was extremely pleased with the collaboration that exists between the Taiwanese Embassy and the school. He said the donation will assist the school’s robotics programme which started during the current school year and is already making strides.

“It is my hope that out of this generous donation today, that we can continue along these lines because the avenues that are available for further education in robotics and related fields are limitless, and I know that the technology institutes in Taiwan are cutting edge,” said Fontenelle. “When you marry that with the introduction of the Mandarin Pioneer Program, which our students that our students have already taken an interest in, I really hope we can continue along this path.”

Also in attendance at last Thursday’s ceremony were Hon. Dr. Pauline Antoine-Prospere, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education; Mr. Daniel Lee, Chief of the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM); Ms. Selena Chang, Deputy Counsel, Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan); Ms. Nana Yu-Ling Lin, Mandarin teacher, TTM; Mr. Anthony Bousquet, Chairman of the Board of St. Mary’s College; Mr. Leonard Robinson, Curriculum Officer for Modern Languages; and invited students.