On August 10th, Penza State University greeted guests from the teacher training institution from Peoples’ Republic of China – Lianyungang Normal College. The official delegation was headed by Teng Shitao, chairman of Education Development Foundation and Secretary of the Communist Party Committee and included the management and of the Finance Office, administrative members and teachers of the School of Early Childhood Education and Music, the School of Physical Education, the School of International Education.

The Chinese delegation came to see the university, conduct negotiations on the implementation of joint educational programme for music students, sign the framework cooperation agreement on training music teachers. The dialogue between the Chinese and Russian universities continues  the first meeting that took part in May this year, when representatives of Penza State University went on an extensive visit to Chinese educational establishments.

Russian participants of the meeting included A.D. Gulyakov, Rector of Penza State University, S.M. Vasin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, V.B. Mekhanov, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, I.I. Artemov, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, O.P. Surina, Director of the Institute of Teachers’ Education, A.B. Tugarov, Dean of the Faculty of Pedagogy, Psychology and Social Science.

The Rector of Penza State University spoke on the university history, structure, the current achievement and research potential. ‘We are very happy that you’ve decided to come to our university, to get acquainted with the institution and its teachers, with the variety of professions that we teach. I am hopeful that we will manage to build a successful communication. I am convinced that mutual understanding is vital, and the dominant key of our discussions is the desire to achieve mutually beneficial cooperation,’ stressed the rector in his welcoming speech.

‘What is important for us in the development of international relations is not only partnership, but the possibility to learn completely different and novel for us methods of teaching music. The Russian school of music is one of the best in the world. We hope that our students will appreciate their opportunity to take the best from your excellent teachers,’ noted the members of the representatives of Lianyungang Normal College.

On signing the Cooperation Agreement, the participants of the meeting visited the Department of Music and Methods of Teaching Music at the Institute of Teacher Training, the place where the future cooperation programme between the educational institutions is to be implemented.