China’s Shandong Friendship Publishing House donated 780 books to the Confucius Institute of Kenyatta University on Wednesday to promote the learning of Chinese language and culture at the university.
NAIROBI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) — China’s Shandong Friendship Publishing House on Wednesday donated 780 books to the Confucius Institute of Kenyatta University to promote the learning of Chinese language and culture at the university.
The donated books cover a wide range of topics, including Chinese folk tales, culinary and medical traditions, and the latest socio-economic developments in east China’s Shandong province, said Li Hong, deputy director general of the Shandong Provincial Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The teaching materials will meet the growing demand for Chinese culture in Kenya, said Salome Nyambura, co-director of Kenyatta University’s Confucius Institute, noting that the books will expand the institution’s collection of resources on Chinese cultural heritage.
Mandarin was recently selected as one of the foreign languages to be taught in Kenya’s curriculum, Nyambura said at a ceremony at the university on the outskirts of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
The book donation comes at the right time as Kenyatta University will be offering a bachelor’s degree program in Chinese language and culture in September, aimed at at least 300 students per year, she said.
The books would also be made available to partner primary and secondary schools across Kenya, Nyambura said. ■
