Edmonton Chinese Bilingual Education Association

Edmonton Chinese Bilingual Education Society
Founded 1982
Focus Education
Location
Area served
Edmonton
Website http://www.ecbea.org/

Edmonton Chinese Bilingual Education Association (ECBEA) is a non-profit educational society working to promoting the learning of the Chinese language in school along with the regular school curriculum through a bilingual education program located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The program is unique in North America as it exists alongside the regular school curriculum and offers a complete continuum of studies from Kindergarten all the way to High School graduation. The society works in close association with the Edmonton Public Schools.

History

ECBEA began as an experimental English-Chinese language program developed in 1982 that was implemented and introduced by Edmonton Public Schools at the Kindergarten level. The initiative was successful, and in 1983 the association was formally established, along with the English-Chinese Bilingual Program. A new Grade level was introduced subsequently every year after that. In 1989 the public school board approved of the program to be expanded to Junior High level (as an optional course called the Chinese Language Arts program), and finally in 1992 the Senior high levels (which satisfied International Baccalaureate standards for Mandarin Chinese) were approved. The program has since grew from 33 Kindergarten students to over 1800 students citywide. In 2007, ECBEA celebrated its 25th anniversary.

The association

ECBEA is a non-profit and non-partisan organization of volunteers that work to promote the Chinese language. It runs by donations and charities, as it is a registered charitable organization under the Canada Revenue Agency. Members of the ECBEA are mostly parents with children enrolled in the English-Chinese Bilingual/Chinese Language Arts program in the Edmonton Public Schools. Since 2009 ECBEA has hosted an annual award ceremony where awards and scholarships are given to those that have shown excellent results in school, the program or extra-curricular activities relating to Chinese culture. The association also publishes a newsletter several times annually for distribution through program schools to member families.

Purpose

The stated purpose of ECBEA is to:[1]

  • promote and ensure the long-term success of the English-Chinese Bilingual / Chinese Language Arts programs;
  • promote the learning and understanding of Chinese language and culture;
  • assist in the establishing of new programs and the expansion of the English-Chinese Bilingual / Chinese Language Arts programs;
  • coordinate student recruitment campaigns for the programs;
  • serve as a collective voice on behalf of parent members;
  • liaison with Edmonton Public Schools on all matters pertaining to Chinese bilingual education;
  • promote Chinese language education through available public media; and,
  • provide volunteer support where required.

Awards

Throughout the years ECBEA has won awards, especially from the City Of Edmonton. Here is a list of them:

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • 1997 – District Team Service Award from Edmonton Public Schools
  • 2009 – City Of Edmonton 58th Annual Salute to Excellence Award

Program schools

Currently there are 12 schools in overall in Edmonton offering this program. They are:

References

  1. ↑ "About the Program – Edmonton Chinese Bilingual Education Association". www.ecbea.org. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
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