Delegation from TAWOSCO Visits GDUFS

On April 20, a delegation from the Tanzania Association of Women Owners of Schools and Colleges (TAWOSCO) visited Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), accompanied by Mr. Khatibu Makenga, Consul General of Tanzania in Guangzhou. Vice President Shen Minghao met with the delegation in the International Conference Hall of the Baiyun Mountain Campus. The two sides exchanged views on inter-institutional cooperation, international Chinese language education, faculty and student exchanges, and inclusive education. The meeting was chaired by Xu Yiqing, Deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office) and the Confucius Institute Affairs Office.

Highlight from the Meeting

Shen highlighted the longstanding friendship between China and Tanzania and the promising prospects for educational cooperation between the two countries. He expressed GDUFS’s readiness to seize this opportunity to deepen collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) of Tanzania and TAWOSCO by establishing a regular framework for cooperation in areas such as Confucius Classrooms development, faculty and student exchanges, and the promotion of Chinese language teaching in primary and secondary schools, to help enhance the quality of education in Tanzania and strengthen China-Tanzania educational cooperation.

Remarks by Shen Minghao

Mr. Khatibu Makenga thanked GDUFS for its warm hospitality. He noted that GDUFS’s extensive experience in integrating basic and higher education, multilingual cultural transmission, and inclusive education offers valuable experience for Tanzania. He looked forward to continued expansion of faculty and student exchanges as well as deeper collaboration in language teaching and vocational education.

Remarks by Mr. Khatibu Makenga

Christa Rweyemamu, National Chairperson of TAWOSCO, briefed the meeting on the association’s profile and Tanzania’s willingness to cooperate. She recognized the existing partnership between GDUFS and the University of Dar es Salaam and put forward specific suggestions for collaboration, including mutual language instruction, pilot Confucius Classrooms, faculty and student exchanges, and joint curriculum development.

Remarks by Christa Rweyemamu

Lu Lu, Executive Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office) and the Confucius Institute Affairs Office, gave a detailed presentation on GDUFS’s international education strategy, international exchanges and cooperation, and its experience in establishing Confucius Institutes. She expressed the hope that both sides will further deepen practical cooperation and work together to bring relevant initiatives to fruition.

Remarks by Lu Lu

During the discussion, representatives from both sides engaged in lively exchanges and shared views on institutional partnership building, operation of Confucius Classrooms, study-in-China programs, and expansion of Chinese language instruction into primary and secondary schools, reaching initial consensus on a number of cooperation directions.

The meeting was also attended by Dr. Margreth Matonya, Director of the Department of Special Needs and Inclusive Education of MoEST of Tanzania, along with representatives from GDUFS’s Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, the Faculty of Asian and African Studies, the Faculty of Chinese Language and Culture, the Institute for International Education, and the Institute for African Studies.