Nearly half of ninth-graders in Bibb County dropped out of school during 2011-2012, among the worst rates of any district in Georgia, according to the state Education Department.

Hoping to turn around its academic performance, the Bibb County School District is becoming a leader among US public school systems in language instruction. It's implementing a bold plan to make Mandarin Chinese required for all students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade within three years.

Incorporating Mandarin into the district-wide curriculum is the linchpin of the county's strategy for transforming local public schools.

"The intent is that as students learn Mandarin, their opportunities to fulfill the Bibb mission of 'all students college-ready' will become a reality, as well as being prepared to live and work in a global, multiethnic economy as productive citizens," said Jane Drennan, the district's deputy superintendent of teaching and learning.

"US public schools have traditionally not included bilingual education as a part of the core curriculum for students," she added. "That makes us one of the few countries in the world that teaches only English in our school systems, thus the vast majority of our citizens can only speak English.

"In today's global, multi-ethnic society it is imperative that we address this gap in our students' education."

Mandarin is currently offered three times a week in 20-minute blocks for pupils in pre-K through second grade. By the start of the 2015-2016 school year, middle-school and high-school students will be included in the initiative.

"The future goal is to expand this opportunity to all students in Bibb County schools and we will gradually increase year by year," Drennan explained.

High schools in the district will continue to offer Spanish and French, but Mandarin is the only language taught at the elementary level.

"Mandarin made more sense to us as we provide our children the preparation they need for their future," the administrator said. "The educational system needs to be transformed based on the needs of the children and not the needs of the past."

The program involves the hiring of 25 teachers through the Confucius Institute at Kennesaw State University, a two-hour drive from Bibb County, who provide the compulsory Chinese instruction. The educators were trained in teaching Chinese as a second language at Yangzhou University and have taught at schools in China.

Each teacher's yearly salary consists of $12,000 from the Office of Chinese Language Council International (known as Hanban and overseen by China's Education Ministry), and $16,000 by the Bibb County district, said Ken Jin, director of the Kennesaw Confucius Institute.

According to Jin, the teachers in Bibb County are the first to arrive in the US since last spring's resolution of a dispute between the State Department and Hanban over the visa eligibility of Confucius Institute hires attached to American schools. The department had ordered such teachers to leave the US and reapply for entry, saying they shouldn't have been using J-1 visas meant for foreign scholars engaged in work- or study-based exchange programs at colleges and universities. US officials later reversed that decision.

The Chinese teachers plan to work in Bibb County for two years, Jin said. An inherent disadvantage of being a guest teacher, he pointed out, is a lack of certainty. "The demand for Chinese teachers is far more than the supply. Although we're in the process of training eligible Chinese teachers locally, it could take a while before they are ready."

There are about 25,000 students throughout Bibb County public schools. The Chinese-language program has the potential to be a model across for the rest of the United States and even the world, Jin believes.

"The majority of schools in Bibb County are elementary schools" (grades 1-5), he said. "The program started with its youngest students because this is the best time for anyone to learn a language."

"Learning a new language takes time and dedication. Because learning a language is relatively easy for children, we put the emphasis on early childhood and will gradually move to developing the higher grades."

Jin said students in Bibb County classrooms will get the opportunity to become proficient in speaking, writing and reading Chinese, and ultimately gain a deep understanding of Chinese culture.

A few students, he said, won't be taking Mandarin classes because of their parents' objections.

"We only teach language and culture, and have nothing to do with politics," Jin said. "But we can't ask those parents to think the same and we respect their right to choose."

Ting Liu has been teaching pupils in preschool through second grade at Lane Elementary School in Macon, Georgia, the seat of Bibb County. The students' lessons over the past four weeks have included greetings, numbers, colors and other vocabulary.

"The kids are really enthusiastic and they learn fast," she said. "In the first week, I gave a brief introduction of China. For younger students, I used traditional Chinese animals such as pandas and dragons. For the higher grades, I used the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and some Olympic venues as symbols of China."

Ting said the children have little knowledge of the country whose language they're studying. "When I introduced China, they realized how different everything is there and immediately became very enthusiastic and curious."

Qian Hong, the only male in the 25-teacher group, is assigned to Macon's Morgan Elementary School. He said his students are excited when lessons begin. Their greetings to him, in and out of the classroom, have consistently been in Mandarin, such as "ni hao" and "zai jian" (hello and goodbye).

"I'm now teaching them simple vocabulary; after they slowly digest the language and become familiar with it, I will transfer to sentences," Qian said.

yuwei12@chinadailyusa.com