As the collaboration between China and Ghana progresses, more and more Ghanaian universities are embracing the growing popularity of the Chinese language to promote cultural diversity and exchange on campus.
On Tuesday, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), one of the most renowned universities in Ghana, became the newest location for a Confucius Institute in the West African country.
Daniel Duah, dean of the International Programs Office at KNUST, explained in an interview with Xinhua that KNUST has always viewed China as an important partner and the timing was right to incorporate Chinese language studies into the curriculum.
“We decided to explore our partnership with the Hubei University of Automotive Technology to have a Confucius Institute here, not only for the language, but also for cultural exchange and international academic exchange programs,” Duah stated.
He noted that with the rapid changes occurring in the world, and the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need for learners to understand different cultures and languages around the world.
“The world is a changing place, and COVID-19 taught us that the world is a global village, and you can not go far without partnerships. It is an opportunity for our students to have that diversity in culture that we desire on campus,” he said.
He mentioned that the university has already included Chinese language as a course, but the presence of the Confucius Institute would help KNUST introduce a degree program in Chinese.
He expressed that KNUST would work closely with their Chinese counterparts to ensure that the Confucius Institute becomes unique, yielding positive benefits for Ghana and China.
Duah praised the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Lu Kun for his leading role in ensuring that KNUST finally received approval to host the third Confucius Institute in Ghana.
“After the subsiding of COVID-19, the ambassador personally visited us and has been a huge pillar for this to happen, and we believe that this is going to deepen further the bilateral relations between Ghana and China,” Duah concluded.
In recent years, studying the Chinese language has become increasingly popular in Ghana, where two Confucius Institutes have been established at the University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast, respectively, since 2013.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).