Lagos to introduce Chinese language in public schools corriculum

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The Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, said on Monday that the state government would introduce Mandarin, or Chinese language, in public schools’ curriculum as from next session.

Oladunjoye said this in a statement signed by the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Lanre Bajulaiye.

The commissioner said this after a meeting with the delegation from the Chinese Confucius Institute, University of Lagos.

She said that learning the language in the state's public schools would be an opportunity for the pupils and students to speak the language and be able to adapt to the Chinese culture.

The Director of the Institute, Prof. Caleb Orimoogunje, said the institution was ready to assist the state with necessary logistics to make the teaching and learning of the language easier.

Orimoogunje added that Prof. Lirong Jiang, a co-director of the institute, would help in the take-off of the programme.

Jiang said the institute, as a representative of the Chinese culture in Nigeria, was set up to satisfy people's need about the country’s culture.

She noted that the language became necessary because China had become the new destination for economic growth and technological development.

``The Institute is prepared to provide Chinese instructors to teach the language and culture in the state's public schools as soon as the Memorandum of Understanding is signed between the state and the institute.

``The knowledge of Chinese language will help students to further their studies in China and carry out research in various fields of human endeavour as China has become a success story in the world economy,`` the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Jiang as saying in the statement.