The University of Nairobi, which hosts the first Confucius Institute to be launched in Africa, this month launched a Model Confucius Institute in a ceremony that was attended by government officials, university administration, staff and students.

Jointly established by the Tianjin Normal University and the University of Nairobi in 2005, the Confucius Institute at University of Nairobi is hailed as a major milestone in the history of cultural exchanges between China and Kenya.

While addressing the launch via video-link, George Magoha, Kenya's minister for education, said his relationship with the Confucius Institute goes back to his days as vice-chancellor at the university.

He said some of the students who were sponsored to study in China during his tenure are now back and teaching at the Confucius Institute.

"During my tenure as vice-chancellor at the University of Nairobi, I represented the African continent at the Confucius Institute based at Beijing in China. During this period, the Confucius Institute of Nairobi won many accolades and many prizes," Magoha said.

"Mine is to congratulate the University of Nairobi fraternity for all the support they have continued to give the Confucius Institute. I also want to salute the leadership at Tianjin Normal University and the People's Republic of China for their continued partnership and for sponsoring Kenyan scholars," he added.

In addition to congratulating the Confucius Institute at University of Nairobi for winning the honor as a Model Confucius Institute, Zhao Xiyuan, minister-counselor at the Chinese embassy in Kenya, said that achievement is not only great and admirable in the field of education but also contributes a lot to Chinese-Kenyan connectivity and mutual learning.

"The Confucius Institute at University of Nairobi has provided high quality training services, opportunities and platforms which has been well received and praised by the local community. The title of Model Confucius Institute is a deserving compliment to you," Zhao said.

Fruitful achievements

Stephen Kiama, vice-chancellor at the University of Nairobi, said 18,000 people have participated in Chinese language classes, 90,000 have experienced Chinese cultural activities and more than 500 have secured scholarships to study in China in the last 15 years since the launch of the Confucius Institute.

Kiama noted the Confucius Institute at University of Nairobi will continue to uphold the concept of friendship, cooperation and development, and deepen the development of Chinese language teaching.

Zhong Yinhua, president of Tianjin Normal University, said in his speech the development of the Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi is a microcosm of educational exchanges between China and Kenya, and upheld the philosophy of friendship development and win-win cooperation.

"I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the Chinese and Kenyan directors, teachers and volunteers for your dedication and hard work. We will need to cooperate in genuine efforts, focus on high quality of local teachers and become the leader in localized teacher training," Zhong said.