Mandarin Moves

By Godfrey Olukya

apolo Mabisi， a Ugandan graduate， has roped in a Chinese friend， a trader in the eastern town of Jinja， to teach him Chinese. The 26-year-old， who doesnt have a job yet， believes it will open doors to more opportunities.

“I have been without a job for more than two years. But now that I am learning Chinese I am certain I will get a job，” Mabisi said confidently. According to him， there are many Chinese companies and traders in Uganda who want to employ people with some knowledge of Chinese.

Mabisi is not alone. Many Ugandans， young and old， men and women， are striving to learn Chinese to broaden their horizons.

Need to learn Chinese

But unlike Mabisi， who has to pay for his language tuition， Ugandan students in secondary schools are to be taught Chinese free. The Ugandan Government announced last year that Chinese would be included in the foreign languages taught in high schools.

So why is the Chinese language making such inroads in Uganda？

In the recent past， thousands of Chinese businessmen and engineers working for Chinese construction companies came to Uganda and other African countries， where their presence and influence is having an ever-increasing impact on the locals through cuisine， culture and language.

According to Ken Okello from the Ugandan Ministry of Trade， Industry and Cooperatives， this Chinese influence cannot be underrated. “Many Chinese are opening businesses in Uganda， both in capital Kampala and other cities. They are running shops， supermarkets， factories and transport units. In addition， they are constructing roads，” Okello said.

As some of them do not know English， they prefer employing locals with some Chinese language skills. Also， many Ugandan traders now regularly travel to China to buy items to sell at home. They mostly import textiles， building materials， electronic goods and toys.

“Ugandans who go to trade in China want to learn some basic Chinese to deal with the people from whom they buy，” Okello said.

Simon Mujizi from the Ugandan Ministry of Education and Sports said another reason for Ugandans learning Chinese is that students who have completed high school are interested in attending universities in China.

“There are some Ugandans currently studying in universities in China. Many others want to join them but in some universities， it is a prerequisite to be fluent in Chinese. That is one of the reasons why many young people are studying Chinese，” Mujizi said.

Sponsored learning

As part of the efforts to boost bilateral cultural and trade relations， the Chinese Government is sponsoring the training of 100 Uganda secondary school teachers， who were hand-picked by the Ugandan Government.

‘”Last year， the National Curriculum Development Center （NCDC） presented a proposal to the Chinese Government， seeking a grant of 30 billion Uganda shillings （$9 million） to facilitate the introduction of Chinese language into Ugandas education system，” said NCDC Director Grace Baguma. “It has been approved.”

She said 20 Chinese trainers will prepare a Chinese syllabus and teach the local teachers over a ninemonth period. The latter will then be put into schools to teach students in 2017. About 20，000 students are expected to learn Chinese in the first phase of the program.

Positive feedback

The Chinese Ambassador to Uganda， Zhao Yali， said he was excited about so many Ugandans wanting to learn Chinese.

“The demand for learning Chinese and understanding the Chinese culture is inevitable with the development of China-Uganda relations and more Ugandans visiting and studying in China，” Zhao said.

Ugandas Minister of Education and Sports Jessica Alupo said， “It is great that Ugandans are embracing the Chinese language， which I am sure will help them in their development.”

In 2014， a Confucius Institute， funded by the Chinese Government， was launched at the Makerere University to teach Chinese language and culture.

The institutes director， Oswald Ndoleriire， said he was happy about the Chinese language program in secondary schools.

The Luyanzi College in Bweyogerere is Ugandas first secondary school to start teaching Chinese from this summer. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Confucius Institute and will become the training center for Chinese language teachers in Uganda.

Young students are excited about the prospects ahead.

Monica Kalisa， a student of Midland Secondary School， said many students in her school are interested in learning Chinese. The moment they get a teacher， they will register for the class.

Richard Linga， head teacher of Nakalake Secondary School in east Uganda， said he had been informed a Chinese language syllabus is in the making. “I encourage all my students to learn the language，” Linga said.

“I do not mind my child studying Chinese at school. China is developing at a very fast rate and the rest of the world is envying it，” said Apolo Mujuzi， a trader in Kampala.

The Chinese community in Uganda is also excited about the development. Li Wei， a community leader in Kampala， said， “It will make things easier if we work with those who understand our language and can communicate with us fluently. We thank all those who have made teaching Chinese in Uganda possible.”

Bigger vision

According to Tony Mugalya from the Ministry of Education and Sports， while initially only 100 schools will benefit， the project is hoped to roll out to more schools later.

“Over time， we will expand the program as more teachers are trained，” he said.

Daniel Olam， a national school curriculum expert， said soon Chinese will also be offered at O and A levels in high schools.

‘We have several foreign languages being taught- English， French， Arabic， German and Latin. Now Chinese is also going to be taught，” Olam said.