Students attend a Chinese class in the Confucius Institute in Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, on 12 April 

Ugandan James Kapo, 19, said that he is proud of being among the pioneer students of Chinese language at secondary school level in his country. 

“After studying the Chinese language for four years, I am going to sit for the national Chinese ordinary level examinations in November. I enjoy studying Chinese. It is interesting to learn a language of a country which is among the greatest in the world,” he said. 

Like Kapo, hundreds of students are preparing to sit for the national Chinese ordinary level examinations for the very first time, set by the Uganda National Examinations Board. 

Chinese language syllabus approved 

All this comes after the Ministry of Education and Sports recently approved the syllabus of Chinese language for secondary schools. 

According to education officer Jackson Okello, the syllabus is in two parts. One part is for ordinary level, which covers senior one to senior four and takes four years to cover. At the end of the fourth year, students sit for national ordinary level examinations. The second syllabus is for advanced level secondary school, where students who pass national ordinary level examinations join for further studies. 

“Those who pass ordinary level examinations join advanced level secondary education in which they study for [another] two years and then sit for national advanced level examinations. When students pass advanced level examinations, they join the universities or institutions of higher education for further studies,” said Okello. 

Rodney Rugyema, administrator of the Confucius Institute at Uganda’s Makerere University, told ChinAfrica that now the syllabus has been approved, the teaching of Chinese language in Uganda is going to improve tremendously. 

“We are happy because the syllabus of teaching Chinese language has been approved by the Ministry of Education and Sports. This year we have candidates going to sit the Chinese language examinations set by the Uganda National Examinations Board,” said Rugyema. 

He said the institute had worked hard to ensure that the Chinese language syllabus gets approved by the Ministry of Education and Sports. Confucius Institute is a non-profit educational institution established by Chinese and foreign partners, with the aim of promoting Chinese language learning worldwide. 

Henry Adramunguni, a specialist in foreign language curriculum at the state-run National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), said in a media interview recently that the Academic Steering Board had approved the syllabus before the Ministry of Education and Sports endorsed it.   

Confucius Institute’s important cultural role 

Rugyema said the institute is the only official organisation in the country responsible for teaching Chinese language in schools and to members of the community. 

Already 100 local teachers have been trained in Chinese language, said Rugyema, adding that each year between 35 and 40 teachers are trained. 

Xia Zhuoqiong, director of the institute in Uganda, said, “We are doing our work well while based here at Makerere University. We are still focused on training more teachers of Chinese language, as well as planning to produce more textbooks in Chinese language.” 

She said that they occasionally organise competitions in Chinese language and those who excel win trips to China. Scholarships are also offered to top students. 

Xia said some of the Chinese language teachers will upgrade to teach upper secondary school. 

Uganda started teaching Chinese language at the lower secondary school level in 2019. It came about after the Ministry of Education and Sports reviewed its curriculum that year to include Chinese language among the foreign languages taught in the country. 

According to the NCDC, students who take on Chinese language learning at the upper secondary school level have the opportunity to be admitted to the universities and several training institutions, where they can advance their studies.  

Encouraging voices 

Mary Okurut, veteran politician and former cabinet minister in charge of general duties in the Office of the Prime Minister of Uganda, said that it is a great opportunity for the country to export some of its human resources to the Asian continent for opportunities as a direct benefit of these studies. 

Meanwhile, Charles Mugoya, one of those who graduated to teach Chinese language who formerly was a geography teacher in eastern Uganda, said, “I am happy that apart from being a geography teacher, I can now also teach Chinese language.” 

He said that he now teaches Chinese in two schools because the number of Chinese teachers is still low, yet the number of students interested in learning the language is increasing daily. 

Rugyema said that although Chinese language is being taught in over 60 schools in the country, this year only three schools have candidates who have completed the first four-year course. However he expects all the other remaining schools teaching Chinese language will have candidates next year. 

“The three schools which have candidates to sit for Chinese language examinations [this year] are Ntare school in west Uganda, Trinity College in Kabale District and Equatorial College in Kamwenge District. 

One school keen to be part of the initiative is Aweri Secondary School in north Uganda. Thomas Okalem, deputy head teacher of the school, said he was planning to meet with the Confucius Institute to discuss being included in the language curriculum going forward. 

“Many students in my school are eager to learn Chinese,” said Okalem, adding that the language opens up opportunities for students, such as finding jobs after graduation, as well as further study opportunities in China. 

Hassan Segujja, a parent of one of the students studying Chinese at Equatorial College, said, “I supported my child when he told me that he wanted to study Chinese language. I believe the more international languages one learns, the better for his future.” 

These sentiments are echoed by Chrisom Muyingo, minister of state for higher education. He told students recently that Ugandans should seriously consider learning the Chinese language, because those who learn it can get many opportunities in future. 

All the talk of Ugandans learning Chinese language has been good news for Yang Yang, a businessman in Uganda’s capital of Kampala. He believes that seeing so many locals wanting to learn Chinese means in the near future he will be chatting to locals in his mother tongue, which is a positive move for cultural relations.