On the afternoon of October 20th, the 3rd Chinese Ambassador Award Ceremony was successfully held at the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania. The ceremony was attended by Wang Ke, Chinese Ambassador in Tanzania, Dr. Leonard Akwilapo, The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Technology of Tanzania, and Dr. Kenneth Hosea, Director of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Technology of Tanzania, Dr. Liu Yan, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at University of Dar Es Salaam, staff of the embassy, and representative teachers and students from the Confucius Institute at University of Dar Es Salaam and the Basic Education Project Team. This made a total of 37 teachers and students from the Confucius Institute at University of Dar Es Salaam who won the 3rd China Ambassador Award.

Speech by Chinese Ambassador Wang Ke

Speech by Dr. Akwilapo，the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Technology of Tanzania

Ambassador Wang Ke and Dr. Akwilapo congratulated the winners in their speeches and spoke highly on the important role of Chinese in Sino-Tanzanian exchanges. They hope that the youths of the two countries can learn each other’s language, further deepen exchanges and promote the two countries relationship for forward movement.

Liu Yan, Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar Es Salaaam, first expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Chinese Embassy and the Ministry of Education and Technology of Tanzania for their long-term support for Chinese education in Tanzania, and briefly introduced the situation of the Confucius Institute: In 2019, the 10,000 students were registered to learn Chinese. Since the opening of the Chinese-English education undergraduate and Chinese language college courses in 2018, the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar Es Salaaam has enrolled 169 undergraduates and 27 Diploma students. Since its establishment in 2013, the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar Es Salaaam has helped 48 Tanzanian students to successfully apply for scholarships and went to China for further studies. It has also organized 217 Tanzanian students and 45 educators to visit China. At the same time, a total of 165 Chinese teachers have also come to Tanzania to teach Chinese. The Confucius Institute also provides short-term training courses in Swahili to local Chinese. The Confucius Institute at the University of Dar Es Salaaam has become an important platform for language and cultural exchanges between China and Tanzania.Ambassador Wang Ke and Dr. Akwilapo congratulated the winners in their speeches and spoke highly on the important role of Chinese in Sino-Tanzanian exchanges. They hope that the youths of the two countries can learn each other’s language, further deepen exchanges and promote the two countries relationship for forward movement.

Speech by Prof. Liu Yan, the Chinese Director of CI UDSM

Chinese local teacher Imani A. Haji and second-year undergraduate student Mshana Glory of the Confucius Institute at Dar Es Salaam spoke as the award-winning representative. They respectively told their own journey of learning Chinese in Tanzania, and expressed their views on the Chinese Embassy and The Confucius Institute at the University of Dar Es Salaaam expressed their gratitude and expressed that they would continue to study and work hard to improve their Chinese proficiency.

Speech by Award-winning teacher Imani A. Haji

Speech by Award-winning student Mshana Glory

Ambassador Wang Ke presents awards to winning students

General Secretary Akwipila presented awards to winning teachers

At the end of the ceremony, Ambassador Wang Ke and the guests presented certificates of honor and bonuses to the winning representatives. Local Chinese teachers Emmanuel Legonga and Imani A. Haji of the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar Es Salaam won the Special Contribution Award. 10 Confucius Institute students with outstanding performance and test scores won the Excellence Award, and 25 students won Encouragement Award.

Group photo of representative teachers and students from the CI UDSM

Group photo of award-winning teachers and students of the CI UDSM

Group photo of award-winning teacher and student representatives and guests

The Tanzania Chinese Ambassador Award is an encouragement to the majority of Chinese learners in Tanzania, and it also brings great encouragement to the teachers and students of our Confucius Institute. The Confucius Institute at the University of Dar Es Salaam will not forget the original intention, to do a solid job in teaching and continuously improve the quality of teaching, cultivate more outstanding Chinese talents, and contribute to the strengthening of the friendship between China and Tanzania.