Students take part in a Chinese singing and translation contest run by the Confucius Institute at Cairo University, Oct 29, 2015. (Provided to chinadaily.com.cn)
Egyptians' passion for Chinese has increased as bilateral trade between China and Egypt reaches a historical high. [Special coverage]
As more students choose to learn the language and more universities set up Chinese departments, there is great shortage of Chinese teachers in Egypt.
Omayma Ghanem, a Chinese professor from Ain Shams University, who first opened a Chinese department in the 1950s, said there were only 11 Chinese major students in her class when she graduated from Ain Shams in 1983. Now, there are more than 2,000.
When Cairo University started it's Chinese department in 2004, there were 20 students, now the number has reached 60 in one grade. The number of students at the Confucius Institute in Cairo University, launched in 2007, has also increased from the original 30 to 1,200 a year, according to Rehab Mahmoud, director of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Cairo University and also dean of the Confucius Institute.
There are now two Confucius Institutes in Egypt with the other at Suez Canal University. Meanwhile, more universities in Egypt are opening Chinese departments. According to Ghnaem, there are departments in Al-Azhar University, Suez Canal University, Fayoum University, Pharos University, Helwan University and Misr University for Science & Technology (private). With help from the Confucius Institutes, there are also Chinese classes in some junior and senior high schools in Egypt.
Ghanem said Port Said University, Suez University and Bani Suef University are also considering opening Chinese departments.
"Chinese teachers are far from enough. Though the Chinese government has sent volunteers to assist Chinese teaching in some universities, a lot more are still needed as many Egyptian Chinese teachers are quite recent graduates and they are lacking experience," said Ghanem.
Because of the scarcity of Chinese teachers, especially experienced ones, Ghanem also works as director for Chinese departments in other universities. From 2005 to 2011, she held the post as director for Chinese department of Suez Canal University and now she is still director of two Chinese departments in Fayoum University, one in the Faculty of Tourism and one in the Faculty of Literature.
"As Ain Shams University has rich experience of Chinese teaching, so universities usually turn to it for help when they start a Chinese department," she said, suggesting that she is not the only one who has to work outside the university.
"China is more and more exposed to the public in Egyptian media and media of other Middle Eastern countries as the bilateral trade of China and Egypt continues to increase. This increased Egyptians' interest and passion in learning Chinese," said Liu Xing, a Chinese professor of North China Institute of Science and Technology who currently works in the Chinese department of Cairo University.
The bilateral trade between China and Egypt has reached a historical high of $11.6 billion and China's non-financial direct investment to Egypt was $ 100 million, increasing 86 percent year on year, in 2014. China has been Egypt's biggest trade partner and an important country for Egypt to attract foreign investment.
Chinese major students could more easily find a job than students of other language majors, he adds.
Liu said some of his students told him the Quran asks Muslims to learn from the east and this also explains Egyptians' passion for Chinese.
