Chinese Language Syllabus 2022

Chinese language teaching and learning was officially introduced into Uganda’s education system in 2020. Before its adoption, the Chinese Language was being taught at a basic level by a few private secondary schools and Makerere University to enable smooth communication in business, education, diplomatic and socioeconomic relations with Chinese speakers across the globe. The proposal to introduce the teaching and learning of the Chinese language in Ugandan was first conceived in 2014 by NCDC and supported by the then Minister of Education and Sports, Hon. Jessica Alupo. In 2015, the Minister on behalf of, the Government of Uganda, submitted the proposal to the Confucius Institute Headquarters in China. The Government of the People’s Republic of China welcomed the proposal and mandated NCDC, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, and the Confucius Institute at Makerere University, on behalf of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of China, to develop the O level Syllabus of Chinese Language for Ugandan Secondary Schools. This syllabus was consequently approved by the Ministry of Education and Sports in 2019.

The teaching and learning of the Chinese language was initially piloted in a few secondary schools in Uganda in 2018 with the support of a few Ugandan teachers who were retooled. In 2019, more than 30 schools also started teaching and learning the Language as one of the subjects in Lower Secondary. The cohort was anticipated to sit the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations in 2022.

The anticipated profile of the graduates of the Chinese language at UCE gave stakeholders hope to develop the Chinese Language Syllabus for the Upper Secondary Education level.
This syllabus was designed to connect the teaching of the Chinese language at the lower secondary level to the Upper Secondary Level and prepare students to study the Chinese Language as a major at higher institutions of learning.