Students from the University of Nairobi now have an opportunity to apply for scholarships from 14 universities in China.
Department of Education in Hubei province hosted by the University of Nairobi and Confucius Institute on Wednesday staged an exhibition to sensitize the students on the scholarship program.
Dubbed the Hubei Higher Education Exhibition, Kenya Chapter, the exhibition was held at the UoN main campus in Nairobi.
UoN Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs Julius Ogengo asked students to seize the opportunity and apply for consideration.
"This partnership also offers some grants for them to get to travel to China for two or three weeks. They can learn how to stay in China and the Chinese culture. As you know Kenya and China are friends," he said.
He said any student from the First year to the postgraduate level can get a scholarship to go study in China.
Ogengo said while others will get scholarships to go study in China, some can get scholarships from China but still study in Kenya.
"We usually get up to 10 scholarships. This time we expect between 140 and 200 students to benefit from the 14 universities. But those who will get a chance to go visit China might be a lot more," he said.
Ogengo said the Confucius Institute is the largest in Africa adding that it offers students Chinese lessons.
"You might have a degree in medicine or arts, but can still go to the Institute to learn the Chinese language. People from the immigration department also go to the Institute to learn Mandarin," he said.
This is the second time this year the Confucius Institute has invited universities from China into the country to interact with learners from UoN and give them scholarships.
Ogengo noted that last year, the Confucius Institute held such forums four times.
He said the Institute built with the support of China aimed at teaching their language and culture to those interested.
The Deputy VC said learners lucky enough to get the scholarships will have to study Chinese.
"With this program, for those going to study in China, they first need to learn Mandarin. Some of them will be studying education. Such a person is going to be trained to be a teacher that understands the culture," he said.
According to the Hubei Provincial Department of Education, Deputy Director-General Zhang Xingping, more than 50 Kenyan students studied in Hubei in 2022.
"Regarding exchanges, our Province has established Hubei Provincial Government Scholarships for international students. This is specifically designed to reward and support students from countries in the "Belt and Road forum" to study in our Province," he said.
Hubei which is located in Central China has 131 institutions of Higher Learning.
Dennis Ireri who studied at the Wuhan University of Technology brought his learners to the exhibition.
"I am a Chinese teacher. I have been in China for the last six years from 2016. I did Finance but for now, I am teaching Chinese. I feel this is an opportunity my students should get," Ireri said.
He said when he went to China, he did not know Mandarin. But he learned over time.
"If you go there doing Masters or PhD you can do it in English. Bachelors can also be done in English but they give you options," Ireri said.
Ireri said when one first gets to China, they first learn Mandarin for one year then they continue with their major in the local language.
"It is why the scholarship is a big advantage for those studying Chinese at the Confucius Institute. They are already familiar with the language," Ireri said.
Ruth Mokeira who studies Mandarin at the Confucius Institute had also hoped to get a scholarship.
She said most of the scholarships are taught in Chinese.
"I am learning Chinese at the Confucius Institute. Today they are making people aware of the opportunities available," she said.
From her observation at the Expo, each of the 14 universities from China specialised in a particular area of study.