Thanks Shaggy, I know my son is not really interested- and there's a ton of press regarding CI's in the UK- but all the same, they (CI employees) are contractually obliged to report on Chinese nationals living abroad if deemed to display any 'anti CCP' behaviour- this could have serious consequences for anyone deemed 'dissident' or their families at home in China. Not so nice. CIs are part of China's 'Soft Power' approach; propaganda, spying, reporting and exerting their influence abroad- We'll see how things go this year as the UK is defunding the CI's- shame Sunak U turned on an outright ban- but the thing to think of is how would we feel if it was a fascist state running language programs for our kids? They would be shut down in a heartbeat. I don't see why China gets a pass when it is guilty of ethnic cleansing, mass detention, human rights abuses etc. Plus our schools seem to welcome them with open arms, it beggars belief. Anyway, here are some links if anyone interested in further research....
Emplyoment application for CI teacher abroad:
https://ukctransparency.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/STANDARD-FORM-National-Application-Form-for-Teachers-Going-Overseas-1.pdf
more gen info:
https://ukctransparency.org/projects-2/are-confucius-institutes-legal/
Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/uk-stop-funding-chinese-confucius-institute-mandarin-teaching-schools