A three-week training program for Kenyans teaching or studying Chinese concluded at the Confucius Institute at Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday.
Launched on November 17, the program attracted 68 participants, including Confucius Institute students aspiring to become teachers and educators from schools across Kenya.
Held online, the program provided training sessions tailored to different proficiency levels. The curriculum covered basic Chinese language skills, Chinese for specific purposes, and Chinese culture.
The institute also organized hands-on cultural activities such as tea art, traditional painting, and paper-cutting, giving participants firsthand experience of Chinese culture.
According to Susan Wachira, lecturer and coordinator of the program, the institute began offering similar trainings in 2014.
“When Chinese language was introduced in schools, we realized there was a need,” Wachira said. “So we started reaching out to teachers across the country, and then we moved the program online.”
“With Mandarin now included in the Competency-Based Education, the demand for qualified and confident Mandarin teachers has never been greater,” said Samson Ondigi, executive dean of the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at Kenyatta University.
Zhou Xiaodong, Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the university, said the institute plans to launch a postgraduate program to train teachers teaching Chinese in the next few years.
