St. Cloud State University opened the doors Tuesday on its Confucius Institute, a partnership with China intended to teach the next generation of language immersion teachers and educate St. Cloud students from kindergarten through college about that country’s culture and global connectedness.

The institute is a partnership with the Jilin Provincial Education Department in Changchun, China, and is in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Education and the Ministry of Education in China.

The institute will focus on the licensing and professional development of teachers, especially those involved with Chinese language immersion programs. St. Cloud’s Madison Elementary is home to one of seven Chinese full-immersion programs (where all instruction is in the target language) in Minnesota; a delegation of Chinese education officials toured the building Tuesday as part of the institute’s grand opening.

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