Hawi Olivia, a form three student at State House Girls High School, is one of the school’s fluent Chinese language speakers.
Olivia, who joined her school’s Chinese Club when she was in form one two years ago, now represents her classmates where Chinese is spoken.
A seed gets planted
“When I came to this school, the Chinese Club was not even active, so our current teacher of Chinese came and told us a lot about the language. There is a way he inspired me and I told myself that the language could be my future,” she reminisces.
Olivia, 16, and other Chinese language students at State House Girls High School attend Chinese classes from 4:10 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday.
She has finished level two of her foreign language classes and is looking forward to taking her Chinese Hanyu Shuiping Kaosh (HSK) exams later this year.
HSK is the standardized test to assess Chinese language proficiency among non-native speakers.
She hopes to pass so that she can move on to the next stage, which will allow her to write the HSK three exams by December of this year.
Her journey
“I’m still a learner. I am also still trying to understand their culture a bit more. So even if someone speaks to me in Chinese, I’ll also try to understand and try to also translate it in English words to better associate with the person,” she shares about her learning journey in a recent interview with Scholar Media Africa.
When she is not at school, she watches IQIYI, a Chinese-language television channel.
She also watches Chinese movies, which she says can be found on the internet. This, she says, aids her learning process.
Olivia, who comes from a family of eight children, is the first in her family to learn Chinese.
Despite the fact that none of her family members speak Chinese, she hopes the language will open up career opportunities for her in Kenya and beyond.
Available opportunities
“As you know, China’s economy is far higher than that of Kenya so I want to go to a university in China to pursue a course of my interest. I study Chinese because I’m capable and I’m happy to do so,” she says.
Kenya and China have had bilateral cooperation and exchange programs for many years, which has resulted in China running various projects in Kenya.
Consider the Thika Super Highway, the Standard Gauge Railway, and the recently opened Nairobi Expressway that employed many Kenyans in their construction.
Kenyan students pursuing various careers who study Chinese believe that by strengthening bilateral collaborations between the two countries, they are better positioned for future jobs in such construction projects.
Students at State House Girls High School started learning the Chinese language as a hobby back in 2017.
Introducing Chinese at State House Girls
According to the school’s Chief Principal, Mrs. Evelyn Nabukwesi, the school at the time didn’t have anything Chinese.
They then grew a learning relationship with the Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi, leading to students becoming more interested, and surprisingly there are so many students who now want to learn Chinese.
“Now that the government of Kenya and China have a lot of partnerships, when kids are aspiring to go to China for their advanced studies, it is important that they learn the language before going. I think that is why the students are very interested,” says Mrs. Nabukwesi.
A year after starting the Chinese Club, some students were invited to China, exposing them to the Chinese and their rich culture.
Mrs. Nabukwesi says that the Chinese language is not yet incorporated in the curriculum; hence still implemented as the Club that has been officially launched.
“This launch means our relationship with China is improving. We are getting more interested students. Very many schools have other foreign languages like French and German but they don’t have the Chinese language.
I believe that the Chinese language is going to spread in most of the schools,” she expresses her excitement over the launch of the Confucius Classroom at the institution.
Getting more speakers
Hospital Hill High School, Highway Secondary School, St. Georges Girls High School, Alliance Boys High School, and Mary Hill Girls High School are brother and sister schools that attended the launch, which happened on February 15, 2023.
The schools were each represented by two teachers and 20 students. Mrs. Nabukwesi says that they were invited to bring them on board.
“You cannot speak a language by yourself. Chinese culture is very rich and you know we always have competitions. We have French plays and verses so if we also can have Chinese, why not? The launch is also to help other schools to understand that Chinese is just like any other foreign language that they can also learn,” she told Scholar Media.
She noted that the school is registering the students who have enrolled to take the Chinese language.
Future plans
Confucius Institute will soon launch an intensive Chinese program aimed at high school graduates.
The program’s goal is to provide students with Chinese language skills that will allow them to apply for scholarships to study at Chinese universities like the Tianjin Normal University.
The University of Nairobi’s Confucius Institute was the first Confucius institute to be founded in Kenya and now has a 17-year history.
The Institute currently has about 20,000 students enrolled.
According to Prof. Wang Shangxue, Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi, the institution registered over 300 students for certificate programs in 2022 and about 70 for bachelor’s degree programs.
“The students come to us to learn Chinese because there is a demand for it by many Chinese companies operating in Kenya,” says Prof. Shangxue.
Prof. Stephen Kiama, Vice Chancellor of the University of Nairobi (UoN), supports the program launched at the State House Girls, stating that it will improve the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).
“I believe that students from the Confucius Classroom at State House Girls High School will be the first group of students to benefit from this program and lead to nurturing of Chinese language talents.
This is an example of the friendly and strong relationship between Kenya and China,” said Prof. Kiama in a speech read by Prof. Julius Ogeng’o, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs at UoN.
“We are grateful to the Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi for providing us with a teacher who has been taking the students through Chinese language classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition to the students, four teachers at our school are also taking classes in the Chinese language and will take over in teaching future Chinese language classes,” Mrs. Nabukwesi said, during the launch.
Previous relations
Through the establishment of inter-school cooperation, such as sister schools, Kenya and China have held many cultural performances, art exhibitions, and other people-to-people exchange programs.
According to data from the Chinese Embassy, more than 1,200 Kenyan students have received Chinese scholarships, and more than 2,500 Kenyan students have studied in China.
As per Mr. Zhao Xiyuan, chargé d’affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Kenya, the launch of the Confucius Classroom is another bilateral landmark in the many years of partnership and friendship that has seen more Kenyans starting to learn the Chinese language.
“The Confucius Classroom is becoming a new achievement in China-Kenya education, cooperation, and cultural exchange. Children are the future of the two countries’ friendship and cooperation.
We hope more and more students can learn the Chinese language and culture and be the children promoting the relations of the two great countries,” he said.
Age-old friendship
Kenya and China also enjoy a bilateral relationship, and this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Speaking during the celebration of the Spring Festival, also referred to as the Year of Rabbit, Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, Hon. Zhao Xiyuan, said that this is a year of opportunity for the further development of China-Kenya relations.
“We hope to take this opportunity to deepen cultural and educational exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.
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In the future, the Chinese Embassy will continue to support the Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi and jointly promote the development of Chinese language and Chinese culture in Kenya,” says Mr. Xiyuan.
