Twenty-five officers from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Wednesday commenced a 90-day training course, “The Introduction of Mandarin”, at the Police Officers’ Training Centre, Camp Road and Young Street, Eve Leary, Georgetown.
The training will be conducted by tutors from Confucius Institute of China, which is based at the University of Guyana. Mandarin is a group of related varieties of Chinese spoken across most of northern and south-western China.
Senior Superintendent and Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said he was delighted that officers of the Police Force have been given the opportunity to learn a second language.
Senior Superintendent and Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum (second from right); Assistant Commissioner Paul Williams (second from left) along with Professor of the Confucius Institute, Janet Ma (far left), the 25 Police Officers who will participate in the Mandarin training course, and other members of the Guyana Police Force
“Guyana is poised to become an oil economy, and definitely we are going to have an influx of many nationalities, so we are making a step in the right direction by having the facilitators from the Confucius Institute,” the Crime Chief stated.
Blanhum also urged participants to make full use of the opportunity, and become a member of the GPF that was fluent in speaking Chinese.
Assistant Commissioner Paul Williams said the training course being afforded to the officers would bear fruit. “I know definitely out of this training we will benefit, but then I want to see that there is an initial gap or bridge being established rather than waiting for another engagement,” the Assistant Commissioner explained.
Williams said the course would also help officers to assist Chinese nationals making reports while awaiting an expert.
He stated, “I want to see this relationship blossom, get stronger and in terms of where we can be able to serve the Chinese community.”
The first phase of the course will run for four weeks, and upon completion, the officers will undergo an assessment. Those who are successful will participate in a summer camp in Shanghai, China.
