By Tione Andsen

Lilongwe, Mana: Malawi stands to improve its education systems by incorporating teaching of Chinese culture and language in various educational institutions.

Secretary for Education, Chikondano Mussa made the remarks Wednesday in Lilongwe during the aligning of an agreement with Chinese government for the construction of Confucius Institute (CI)-University of Malawi (UNIMA).

She said the incorporation of the Chinese language would add value to the country’s education system. 

Mussa said  government has put in place a policy in the education system  to let Chinese language to be taught in some schools  in order to allow many Malawians be exposed to the language.

She said the agreement would add value to the promotion of trade and education for the two countries by utilizing the platform which promotes cultural, linguistic and economic exchange.

“All this comes against the background of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2009. It is very important to have a well established central office for easy coordination of the CI-UNIMA activities,” Mussa pointed out.

The Secretary asked CI to construct CI-UNIMA centre according to the specification of the plans of the project saying it should be of high quality.

She said the construction the centre needs to be speeded up since it was behind schedule for the commencement of the construction.

A Counsellor for Chinese Embassy, Zhang Chunfa said since the establishment of the diplomatic relation with Malawi, they two countries have made a lot of cooperation’s in the field of education

He said in 2013 China pledged to support the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) to improve teaching and research by using Chinese language and instruments.

Chunfa said Chinese government has continued to providie educational scholarships to many Malawian students every year to study in China.

At MUST, Chinese language has been included in the curriculum such that students enroll for it as an independent course and at UNIMA; a course has been developed waiting for approval.

Institutions where Chinese Language is taught include, Mkwichi Primary School, Mkwichi Secondary School, Lilongwe Academy, Immigration office, Sir Harry Johnstone International School, Malawi Institute of Tourism, St Andrews High School, Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, Mzuzu International Academy, Malawi Institute of Management, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, University of Malawi, Malawi University of Science and Technology and Mzuzu University. 

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