Roundup: Secondary schools in African countries embrace Chinese language lessons

As ties between China and Africa grow not only in trade but also in people-to-people exchanges, the interest in Chinese language learning has grown from among university students to teenagers in African countries.

Teaching of Chinese language in secondary schools has been introduced to African countries including South Africa, Tanzania and Madagascar, and this trend is expected to further grow.

SOUTH AFRICA

Fourteen schools -- either primary schools or secondary schools -- in South Africa are teaching the Chinese language, while more schools will have Chinese language lessons this year, according to Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga.

The education department of Gauteng province is piloting the teaching of the Chinese language in schools, mainly in the Tshwane South district, Motshekga said earlier this month.

The 14 schools currently teaching the Chinese language are in the province and a list of 13 new schools has been proposed for this year, according to the minister.

"I am happy to announce that 2, 000 textbooks will be donated by the Chinese government to assist in teaching mandarin in schools until a South African textbook is developed. We are also looking at establishing e-learning classrooms for the pilot schools teaching Mandarin," Motshekga said.

The Chinese language lessons would be introduced in the schools for grades 4-10 (usually for children aged 10-16) in 2016, to be followed by grade 11 in 2017 and grade 12 in 2018, according to the Department of Basic Education.

TANZANIA

Six secondary schools and three universities are taking part in a pilot program of the Chinese language teaching in Tanzania, backed by 12 Chinese teachers.

The Confucius Institute at University of Dodoma serves as the coordinator of the program.

Speaking during the launching of a Chinese language and culture pilot program in Dar es Salaam recently, Tanzania's Deputy Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Leonard Akwilapo, encouraged the secondary school students learning Chinese.

"If you learn well Chinese language and culture, you will also acquire technological knowledge and skills of the Chinese who are very successful in this area," Akwilapo told students of Zanaki Secondary School in Dar es Salaam.

He said the government would ensure the program, supported by the Chinese government, would be "sustainable".

"We are training teachers at the three universities so that they can take over from the Chinese volunteers," the official said.

Speaking at the ceremony, Cultural Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy to Tanzania, Gao Wei, encouraged the students to work hard, saying those who "perform well" would have opportunities to go to China for summer schools and university courses.

Zanaki Girls Secondary School Head Mistress, Juliet Matowo, said some 300 students aged 14-18 are learning the language at the school.

"There is a lot of interest among our students to learn the language," Matowo said, adding many students have ambitions to further their studies in China in the future.

MADAGASCAR

At Le petit Nid School in Madagascar's capital Antananarivo, half of a total of 3,000 students in the school, aged 8-17, have enrolled in the Chinese language lessons.

"We are responding to the expectations of parents on equal opportunity for their children, (that's) why we have advocated for compulsory courses of Chinese language," Le petit Nid School CEO, Sahoby Ramahafalisoa, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

When the Chinese classes were introduced in the school in 2013, only 210 students enrolled for the lessons, but the number has grown to some 1,500 for this year.

"This number is increasing... Parents of students have openly appreciated the integration of Chinese courses in our school program," Ramahafalisoa said.

The teaching is being staffed by Malagasy graduates from Antananarivo Confucius Institute.

Ramantsarazaka Hery Zo is the head of the five-member team teaching Chinese lessons. "No school in Madagascar, except le Petit Nid, has integrated the Chinese language as compulsory courses into its school program that presents many benefits to our students," he said.

"Aware of the challenge and benefits of speaking this language, they (the students) attach great importance to the course," Zo told Xinhua.

The Chinese embassy to Madagascar has been supporting the school and its Chinese language teaching at the school, donating books and equipment.

"The Chinese ambassador to Madagascar, Yang Min, visited our school frequently, and thousands of audiovisual content and books in our school are gifts from him," said Ramahafalisoa.

Ramahafalisoa said at least three or four of the students got a scholarship to study in China every year.

"Taking into account the global geopolitical context that pushes us to open to the West as well as the East, our duty is to provide our students the freedom to appropriate cultures without neglecting their own Malagasy culture," she said. Endit