Egyptian expert: the 10th anniversary of the "the Belt and Road" witnessed the glorious ten years of Chinese education in Egypt HSK | Egypt | Chinese

Hassan Rajab, a renowned international expert in Egypt. Photo by People's Daily reporter Huang Peizhao

Cairo, August 15 (People's Daily Online) -- Hassan Rajeb, a senior Egyptian scholar in international affairs and a famous expert on China, said in an interview with a reporter on People's Daily Online that since the "the Belt and Road" initiative was put forward, Chinese education cooperation between China and Egypt has developed rapidly, and has been going deeper and deeper, and has achieved fruitful results. The 10th anniversary of the "the Belt and Road" can be called the glorious decade of Chinese education in Egypt.

Rajb introduced that on September 7, 2020, Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang and Egyptian Minister of Education and Technology Tariq Shuki signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Cairo on the inclusion of Chinese as an elective second language in Egyptian primary and secondary schools, taking Egypt's Chinese education industry to a new level. This means that Chinese language teaching is officially included in Egypt's primary and secondary education curriculum and national education system.

"As an Egyptian sinologist, looking back on the 10 years' glorious history of the 'the Belt and Road', I saw the brilliant achievements of Chinese education in Egypt, and also felt that it has made great contributions to the friendship and cultural exchanges between China and Egypt." Rajeb said that Chinese education institutions are booming and gradually taking shape. Ten years ago, there were only a few Chinese language education institutions in Egypt. With the promotion of the "the Belt and Road", more and more Chinese enterprises have entered Egypt. The demand for Chinese in Egypt is constantly expanding. As of now, Egypt has established 23 Chinese language departments, 3 Confucius Institutes, and 4 Confucius Classrooms, with a total of 50000 students studying at Confucius Institutes. The Chinese education industry in Egypt has presented a pattern of "five departments, three academies, and one center", opening a window for the Egyptian people to understand Chinese language and culture. At the same time, the Chinese Department of the University of Egypt is centered around Cairo, distributed in a strip pattern along both banks of the Nile River, forming a preliminary Chinese teaching network that radiates throughout the country.

Rajb pointed out that Chinese academic education and non academic education in Egypt are interdependent. "Over the past decade, Cairo University, Suez Canal University, and Ain Shams University have improved their four-year undergraduate, master's, and doctoral training systems for Chinese language education. In order to meet the needs of Egyptians in society for learning Chinese, Confucius Institutes, China Cultural Center, Egypt China Friendship Association, and China Students' Federation offer Chinese language proficiency exam training courses and business Chinese courses to all learners who have a need for learning Chinese. Short term non degree Chinese language education is provided. The interdependence between Chinese language education and non degree education not only meets the personalized learning needs of Egyptian Chinese enthusiasts, but also meets the demand for Chinese talents in Egyptian social development."

In Rajb's view, the local teaching staff in Egypt is constantly growing. In the past decade, with the booming development of Chinese education, the demand for local Chinese language teachers has also been continuously increasing. Many young Chinese language teachers have obtained Chinese language teaching qualification certification through various means and continuously improve their teaching level in teaching practice. These local Chinese language teachers not only play an important role in the field of local Chinese education, but also build a bridge for cultural exchange and people's friendship between China and Egypt.

Rajb introduced that there are diverse forms of Chinese language teaching in Egypt and diverse cultural activities. In 2015, a Confucius Classroom was established through cooperation between China and Egypt, with television program production and broadcasting as the main channels. The Chinese language teaching format is novel and unique, and it has a wide influence in the Arab region. In addition, during the past 10 years, in addition to regularly holding celebrations of traditional Chinese festivals and offering Chinese cultural interest classes, Chinese institutions also regularly held a variety of competitions such as Chinese storytelling, poetry recitation, Chinese composition, dubbing, and Egyptian voices. The participation range was wide, and the number of participants was large. The participants had excellent Chinese proficiency, creating a good atmosphere for Egyptian Chinese education.

"The number of students taking the HSK exam and receiving scholarships is constantly increasing," Rajab said. "The Chinese proficiency test is one of the important indicators for measuring the achievements of Chinese education, and it is also a key to student employment and scholarship applications.". In the past decade, many universities, language schools, and training institutions in Egypt have opened HSK tutoring classes and examination centers to provide professional guidance and training for candidates. More and more Egyptian students have obtained HSK certificates through HSK exams. At the same time, with the HSK certificate, many students have received international Chinese teacher scholarships to study in China, providing strong support for the popularization and development of Chinese education in Egypt.

"In a word, Chinese language education has made brilliant achievements in Egypt in the past 10 years. From a few Chinese language education institutions in the early days to today's booming development, from single academic education to the interdependence of academic education and non academic education, from the lack of local Chinese language teachers to today's large-scale training, from the rise of HSK examinations to the continuous emergence of scholarships, all of these have witnessed the vigorous development of Chinese language education in Egypt. In the future, with the docking of the the Belt and Road initiative and Egypt's Vision 2030, I believe that Chinese language education in Egypt will usher in a better tomorrow. Let's work together, take Chinese language education as a bridge, and continue to promote exchanges and cooperation between China and Egypt in cultural, educational, economic and other fields and make greater contributions to the mutual learning of Chinese and Egyptian civilizations and the China Egypt community of common destiny!" Rajeb said.