Africans seek quality education in China
The increasing number of African students seeking to further their education in China is a clear sign of the quality of education provided in the country, a senior government official said on Wednesday. Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Yang Youming said China was grateful for the appreciation expressed for the country’s education system by African countries and has promised that China will continue providing high quality.
“The increasing number of students from Africa is a good indicator of the appreciation the people of Africa have for the quality of education in China, and that is why they have decided to send their children,” Yang told reporters during a news briefing at which he unveiled an appreciation letter from 11 of the 26 Zambian students who went to China last year to study singing and dance under a program arranged by China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan, and her Zambian counterpart Esther Lungu.
Yang also unveiled another letter in which the Chinese first lady responded to the letter written by the students.
He said China has now become a prime destination not only for Zambian youth who want to study overseas but for Africa as a whole, and that China is second only to France in attracting students from Africa.
He said the promotion of people-to-people exchanges is important as it affords a way to learn about the cultures of other countries. Chinese universities expect to see increasing numbers of students from Africa seeking to study, he added.
According to Yang, countries should develop their education systems and people to achieve meaningful development.
Reuben Sakala, one of the students who studied singing and dance at Nanjing University of the Arts and Nanjing Normal University, said Zambia has a lot to learn from China’s progress over the past 50 years.
He said Chinese people were committed and dedicated to their work and to their culture, which has resulted in rapid development.
In her response letter to the Zambian students, Peng said the friendship of the two countries depends upon young people carrying it forward.
She said the youth are the future and hope of any nation, and urged them to continue studying hard in order to make great contributions to Zambia’s development.
The cooperation between the two countries in recent years has borne rich fruit, with currently over 3,500 Zambian students studying in China under various scholarships. The Chinese government has provided about 800 government-sponsored scholarships to Zambia.