Question reference: S6W-10365
- Date lodged: 17 August 2022
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Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 September 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is the case that Confucius Classroom Hubs in Scottish schools received funding from (a) the Scottish Government and (b) the Chinese Government in 2021-22, and, if this is the case, how much was received from each body.
Answer
Confucius Classroom Hubs do not receive funding directly from the Scottish Government or the Chinese Government. Hubs in local authority schools are funded by the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools (CISS) via local authorities. Specialist classrooms (such as at Edinburgh Zoo), and Jordanhill School receive their funding directly from CISS.
In 2021-22, the Scottish Government provided CISS with a grant of £490,573. CISS publishes a joint annual report with Scotland’s Centre for Languages (SCILT) which includes information about funding and spending (available at: About Us (scilt.org.uk) ) . According to the 2021-22 annual report, approximately £400,000 was allocated from China in that year.
It is the responsibility of local authorities and schools to choose which languages to teach, and to determine what resources to draw on and partners to work with in order to support learning. Schools and teachers also remain responsible for curriculum making and the teaching in the classroom.