Egypt launches pilot program to teach Chinese in middle schools

CAIRO, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A ceremony was held at the Confucius Institute of Cairo University on Sunday to launch a pilot program for teaching the Chinese language in Egyptian middle schools and a training program for Egyptian teachers.

Zhang Tao, charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Egypt, said in a video message that 12 public middle schools in Egypt would be included in the pilot program, which will mark a new starting point for Chinese language training in Egyptian middle schools.

In September 2020, China and Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding to teach Chinese as an optional second foreign language in Egyptian primary and secondary schools, according to Zhang.

China and Egypt have made great progress in inter-school cooperation, vocational education, joint training of talents and scientific research cooperation, he added.

Mohamed Megahed, Egypt's deputy minister of Education and Technical Education, said Egypt and China had strengthened their cooperation in education in recent years.

Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, the pilot program has been launched one year earlier than planned, he said, adding that he hoped that the program would help more Egyptians know more about China.

The training program for teachers will last 10 days and provide courses on teaching methods, language learning, and the use of electronic textbooks and applications. A total of 12 teachers will take up posts as Chinese language instructors after the training.