The Confucius Institute (CI) at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) has marked the 16th United Nations Chinese Language Day celebration on the theme: “Chinese Language: A Gift Across Time and Space.”
The celebration, in collaboration with the Central Regional Coordinating Council was aimed at promoting the Chinese language and fostering cultural exchange.
This year, the Confucius Institute at UCC commemorated the day at one of its Confucius Classrooms, Penuel International School, which is located at Kasoa.
Penuel International School signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CIUCC in 2018 and has since incorporated Chinese Language into its curriculum.
The celebration was attended by dignitaries including the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Tong Defa; the Central Regional Director of Education, Emmanuel Essuman; the President of Ghana Overseas Chinese Federation, Mr Tang Hong; China and Ghana directors of the Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Coast and teachers and students of the Grace Field International School, as well as Aburaman Senior High School.
Speaking at the function, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Tong Defa, said the Chinese language served not only as a bridge for communication but also for invigorating educational and cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Ghana.
Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, HE Tong Defa
He noted that by the end of 2023, over 85 countries had integrated Chinese language into their national education systems, with more than 180 countries teaching Chinese worldwide.
“More than 30 million people outside of China are learning Chinese, and a total of nearly 200 million people have learnt or used Chinese.
He praised a student of UCC, Miss. Lilian Ama Serwaa Tobias, for emerging as the winner of the 23rd Chinese Bridge Competition at the tertiary level for the year 2024.
The Ambassador noted that three Confucius Institutes had been established in Ghana, currently enrolling 15,000 students and providing Chinese language instruction to over 150,000 students in total.
He further encouraged Ghanaian students to take the Chinese language seriously.
“Learning Chinese will bring you more opportunities in the future. We will surely see a lot of you become civilian ambassadors of Ghana to China and contribute to deepening our bilateral relations,” he added.
Ambassador Tong commended the teachers and volunteers at the Confucius Institutes for their contributions to Chinese language education and cultural promotion.
He acknowledged the students for their achievements, encouraging them to work harder to achieve better results and to meet the high expectations in their educational journey.
Students in a performance at the event
The Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Ou Yamei encouraged the students to study Chinese at the institute and experience the profound Chinese culture.
He said the celebration was an opportunity for students to learn the Chinese language and develop interest among the pupils in the language.
The Central Regional Director of Education, Mr. Emmanuel Essuman, in a remark, noted that learning Chinese would create job opportunities in Chinese companies operating in Ghana and the Directorate would support Confucius Institute to achieve its mission in Ghana.
In 2010, the UN Department of Public Information established the day, with the aim "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity, as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organisation”.
April 20 was chosen as the date to pay tribute to Cangjie, a mythical figure who is presumed to have invented Chinese characters about 5,000 years ago.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC