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Oxford and China
Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking
world and can claim virtually a thousand years of continuous existence.
Teaching has existed at Oxford in some form since 1096. By 1231 the
University was headed by a Chancellor and its college masters were
recognised as a universitas or corporation. As an internationally
renowned centre for teaching and research, Oxford attracts students and
scholars from across the globe, with over a quarter of its students from
overseas.
Oxford has thirty-nine self-governing colleges related to the University
in a type of federal system, University, Balliol and Merton Colleges,
established between 1249 and 1264, being the oldest. There are also
seven private halls. Women have been admitted to the University since
1878 and became full members in 1920. Thirty-seven colleges and all
halls admit students for graduate degrees.
The educational system at Oxford, developed and fiercely guarded through
the centuries, enables the University to ensure the outstanding quality
of the education it gives its students. The tutorial system, where
students meet weekly, individually or in pairs, with a tutor to assess
their work, is unique and fosters an intellectual rigour unmatched
elsewhere.
Throughout its history, Oxford has educated gifted men and women in
every sphere of human endeavour. Among these are six kings, forty-six
Nobel prize-winners, twenty-five British Prime Ministers, six current
holders of the Order of Merit, three saints and a President of the
United States.
China is the most
populous and fastest growing country in the world, and its economic
growth regularly outpaces that of almost any other country. China is
diversifying as never before, and this has created a rapidly expanding
need for leaders with the skills and knowledge to manage the change and
expansion which will allow China to take her place in the world.
Oxford has produced more leaders over more centuries than any other
university. It exposes its students to the highest international
standards. Its world-famous educational system, based upon one-to-one
tuition by scholars who are eminent in their fields, is a forcing house
for talent. Men and women at Oxford are not members of a crowd, but
individuals encouraged to foster their talent by debate with their peers
and by fierce competition; the drive not to be out-shone by others is a
sharp spur to academic excellence. Tuition combines the wisdom of the
ages with the most modern of techniques and facilities. Talent is
fostered individually, and nothing is done by rote. The rich resources
of the University are available to all. Its libraries, laboratories and
lectures are of world-class standard.
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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
Developing Leadership
in Tomorrow’s China
"I believe that this
Fund
is an exciting new initiative
and that with a greater exchange of ideas,
the pace of progress in China
will continue to grow. "
Patron The Rt Hon Baroness Thatcher
of Kesteven LG OM FRS
Former British Prime Minister
Graduate of the University of Oxford
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