Education experts say China promoted quality education in Africa

African education experts commended China's role in advancing quality education in Africa, at the China-Africa Educational Cooperation Seminar on Friday in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

They said China promoted quality education in Africa by providing programs, such as scholarships, vocational and skill development training for African students, and funding infrastructure for academic institutions across the continent.

"China supports enhancing the education level of all Africans, particularly women, children and youth, and has continued to provide quality education through various scholarships and training programs," said Bonaventure Rutinwa, deputy vice chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

He added that China-funded schools in African countries provide training in Chinese language and culture, which enhanced the employability of African youth by Chinese companies. He said China's support is well-intentioned and aims to bring about genuine economic and social transformation in Africa.

China set up an educational trust fund under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2012, which has trained over 10,000 teachers in Africa, according to Hu Changchun, head of the Chinese mission to the African Union. There are now 67 Confucius Institutes and 10 Confucius Classrooms across Africa, and more than 50,000 African students study in China each year, according to Hu.

Samuel Kifle, president of Addis Ababa University, noted China's capacity-building efforts to help African children and youth receive quality education. He urged African governments to learn from China to foster capable civil servants and an educated labor force to improve African countries' sci-tech innovation.

"We Africans can learn from what China has achieved over the last 40 years in fostering fast economic development through boosting productivity, innovation, infrastructure development and creating a responsible government," Kifle said. He also called for enhanced China-Africa cooperation in education within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Abdoulaye Salifou, an official from UNESCO, described China's role in Africa's education sector as "indispensable." He said China, which has one of the most advanced educational systems globally, can help African countries undertake "significant reforms" in digital transformation and promote technical and vocational training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

According to UNESCO, 63 million children in Africa are out of school, and 17 million teachers are needed for Africa to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in education.

Experts said at the seminar that by 2030, Africa will account for more than 90 percent of global external financing needs for education, with an additional $40 billion needed to finance its education sector.

(With input from Xinhua)