KAMPALA – The 18th “Chinese Bridge” competition, an annual Chinese proficiency contest for foreign college students, was on weekend concluded in Kampala.
Under the theme “One World, One Family,” the final round of the competition held under the guidance of the Confucius Institute at Makerere University was featured by presenting speeches in Chinese, question and answer session on China and talent shows on Chinese culture.
Seven finalists from Makerere University, Kyambogo University and Ndejje University competed in the final round.
The winner will travel to China to participate in the global competition while the first runner up will get an opportunity to watch the competition in China.
Other competitors won prizes and also were given certificates.
This is the fourth time the competition is held in Uganda.
“There is increasing interest among Ugandans to learn the Chinese language, and several schools in Uganda have started teaching the Chinese language,” said Yang Yehua, director of administration at the Chinese embassy.
According to the National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC), the Ugandan and Chinese government have the understanding to train over 100 Ugandan language teachers, who are trained under the guidance of the Confucius Institute at Makerere University.
The first batch graduated last December after a nine-month course of learning Chinese.
The teachers are the pioneers of Ugandan Chinese language teachers.
After their graduation, the country early this year rolled out the Chinese language syllabus for secondary schools.
The NCDC estimates that within the next four years about 60,000 students would have learned how to speak Chinese.
At the Confucius Institute at Makerere University, many university students and business people are enrolling to learn Chinese.
