Africa Focus: Kenya to introduce Chinese language into school curriculum

Kenya will introduce Chinese language into its school curriculum system to boost Sino-Kenyan relation, an education official said on Monday.

The role Beijing plays in Kenya's economy has impacted in many spheres hence the need to increase the number of Chinese speakers in the country, said Julius Jwan, development chief of Kenya's curriculum institute.

"Kenya is doing big business with China and more Chinese tourists have been visiting Kenya, and having people who can comfortably speak the language is an added advantage," he said.

According to China's customs authorities, bilateral trade between China and Kenya reached 3.27 billion U.S. dollar in 2013, up 15 percent from a year ago, while about 50 Chinese companies have been contracted for around 80 projects in Kenya with a value of 2 billion dollar.

For the Africa continent, China has been the largest trading partner for five consecutive years. China-Africa trade has expanded to more than 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2013, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang envisioned that bilateral trade between China and Africa will double to 400 billion dollars in 2020.

Jwan said Chinese will be introduced within the curriculum reform that is currently taking place in Kenya and will involve capacity building and needs assessment.

Three days ago, the Chinese-language-teaching Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi expressed intentions to jointly launch textbooks of Chinese language with Kenya's Institute of Curriculum Development, when donating books and a television screen to establish a Chinese language corner at the university.

The Confucius Institute, aimed at spreading Chinese language teaching and Chinese culture around the world, launched in March the fourth of its kind in Kenya, bringing its total number in Africa to over 40.

Jwan added the language will be optional like other foreign languages that are taught in Kenyan schools, and is expected to start in 2017.

"At the university, it can be done at a very high level owing to the maturity of the students, but prior to introducing it in schools to young students needs prudent planning including the aspect of how it will be tested as an exam," he said.

The curriculum expert said this would require the input of expertise, which is currently lacking. "This is one engagement that we are currently having with the Confucius Institutes and the Chinese Embassy to see if we can get that kind of support," Jwan told Xinhua.

Dr. Lucy Ogol from the Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi said research has divulged the earliest the language can commence being taught is in Standard Four because at that level the learners are capable of understanding the intricacies of the design work, especially writing of the language.

"We are researching a situation where graduates from Confucius Institutes in Kenya can be able to teach the learners the curriculum together with the characters at an early age," Ogol said.

She said capacity building of teachers and staff members at the institutions has already started on elementary basis.

Ogol said the content to be taught will be localized in order to make comprehending of the language easier because the whole idea of learning the language is to communicate.

Presently, Chinese language is taught at Nairobi, Kenyatta, Egerton and Moi universities. Endi