Kenya to start teaching Chinese in elementary schools in effort to boost relations with China

Kenya will start teaching Chinese to elementary school students from Grade 4 and onwards.

The country’s Mandarin syllabus will be rolled out in 2020 and has been designed by Kenya’s curriculum development institute.

The language courses are intended to improve job competitiveness and establish a better trade relationship with China.

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“The place of China in the world economy has also grown to be so strong that Kenya stands to benefit if its citizens can understand Mandarin,” said Julius Jwan, CEO of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, told Xinhua News.

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It’s reported that several other foreign languages will also be taught alongside Mandarin, including French, Arabic and German.