NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 21 — Kenya-China Alumni Association has noted growing interest in the Chinese language and culture noting that 176 language teachers had been registered since 2018.
Since 1982, more than 1000 Kenyans have benefited from the Kenya-China Scholarships, a majority of whom attended Confucius Institutes at the University of Nairobi and Egerton Kenyatta.
The beneficiaries are a blend of government- and self-sponsored students, the association stated.
Speaking during the Kenya-China Alumni celebration to mark 40years of Chinese government scholarship, Director of Metrology and Testing at the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) Henry Rotich, who is the Chairperson of the alumni association, stated that they have developed a platform and online resource library for the registered teachers and students to use whenever they are teaching and learning Chinese.
“We aim to create innovators and job creators who are great ambassadors of continued Kenya-China friendship and cooperation that mutually enhance our economies and cultures,” he said.
“We can identify a lot of opportunities in businesses and other fields and also government, and this network via the Alumni Association will help us develop more opportunities between Kenya and China.”
Rotich also urged the Chinese Language Teachers Association to lend them further assistance by supplying psychical books in addition to online copies for distribution to schools in order to further the objective of growing the Chinese Language.
“Through the school visits in Kenya, we aim to increase the students’ knowledge of the Chinese language and culture from a young age,” he said.
“This is in line with our belief in education as a transformative tool for our children.”
The Chairperson went on to say that over the years, the Alumni Association has also organized contests and other events, particularly the Faith Discovery Chinese Center, which trained over 300 students and recruited participants from various Confucius Institutes and colleges to help them understand Chinese culture.
“We aim to nurture independent, self-aware job creators and not just job seekers and as the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “Mastering others is strength and mastering oneself is true power,” he said.
Rotich added that the association will hold various trainings and workshops throughout the years to keep the alumni members updated on the latest developments in several fields including the annual interpreter training.
He said the association is keen to help Kenyan business owners and people learn how to buy and import goods from China.
He called for the consideration of integrating the Mandarin into the Kenya’s Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) since they are actively involved with Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).
He said the association had the capacity needed to make the roll out of such a program a success through qualified and well-trained teachers who specialize in the Chinese language and culture in Kenya and China.
Finally, Rotich called on the Kenya-China Alumni to continue promoting educational, economic and cultural exchanges between Kenya and China and strive towards deepening the friendship and collaboration.
