Kenya is currently hosting the annual summit of Confucius Institutes, bringing together over 67 institutes and classrooms from across Africa. Running from May 29 to June 1, the 2024 joint conference aims to enhance exchange and cooperation among Confucius Institutes and Classrooms on the continent.
Organized by the University of Nairobi, the Chinese International Education Foundation, and the Confucius Institute of the University of Nairobi under the leadership of Prof. Wang Shangxue, the summit focuses on strengthening collaboration and the brand of Confucius Institutes.
Discussions also cover promoting quality and systematic development in Africa’s Confucius Institutes. Over 100 representatives from various Confucius Institutes and independent Confucius Classrooms in Africa are participating.
Parliamentary Affairs PS Aurelia Rono, representing Education CS Ezekiel Machogu, reiterated Kenya’s commitment to collaboration with China under the Confucius Institutes framework.
She emphasized Nairobi’s significance in advancing exchanges between the two countries and highlighted China’s contributions to Kenya’s education sector, including over 20,000 scholarships accessed through Confucius Institutes.
PS Rono also announced plans for language exchanges, with Kenyans teaching Kiswahili to Chinese nationals.
The theme of the joint conference which coincides with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Confucius Institutes in Africa is “Promoting Localization, Development, Collaboration and Innovation of African Confucius Institutes.”
Representatives from the China International Language Centre and Confucius Institutes in various African countries, including Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Senegal, Chad, Ghana, Gambia, Morocco, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Mauritius, and others, are participating in the event.
Prof. Zhong Yinghua, Chairperson of the International Society for Chinese Language Teaching, emphasized that although significant progress has been achieved in teaching Chinese in Africa, more effort is still required.
He highlighted the necessity of integrating Chinese language courses into basic education to establish a strong foundation for teaching and learning the language.
“We also need to strengthen Chinese language teachers’ training programs to address the shortage of high-level local teaching staff,” Yinghua said.
Yinghua added that there is also need to enhance targeted professional training for local teachers so as to improve their teaching effectiveness.
It is noteworthy that Kiswahili is also taught in China.
UoN Vice Chancellor Prof Stephen Kiama noted that the UoN Confucius Institute was started in 2005 in partnership with Tianjin Normal University in China.
“We are the first in Africa to bring the Bachelor of Arts in Chinese in 2009 and Bachelor of Education Arts Chinese program in 2023,” he said.
Kiama said UoN has been at the forefront of promoting Chinese language in Kenya.
