The Delegation From Beijing Normal University Attended the Launch Ceremony of the Digital Education Collaborative Project for Girls in Africa and Visited Relevant Educational Institutions
From March 11 to 20, to promote the implementation of the "Beijing Normal University - UNESCO: Digital Education Collaborative Project for Girls in Africa", Zhou Zuoyu, Deputy Director of the Council of Beijing Normal University (BNU) and Director of the UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (UNESCO INRULED), led a delegation to attend the launch meeting of the project in Tanzania and Ghana and visit relevant educational institutions in the two countries.
The delegation visited the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, the UNESCO Office in Dar es Salaam and in Accra, the Association of African Universities, and the University of Ghana, and held talks with the Deputy Permanent Secretary of Tanzania's Ministry of Education and Science and Technology.During the visit, the delegation also paid a visit to the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, had on-site inspections of several local teacher education colleges and primary and secondary schools, and discussed cooperation with Huawei Technology Company in Ghana. Relevant personnel from the UNESCO INRULED at BNU accompanied the delegation on the visit.
On the morning of March 12, Zhou Zuoyu and his delegation visited the College of Education at the University of Dar es Salaam and were warmly welcomed by the head of the Education Department, Joel Jonathan Kayombo, and other relevant officials. The two sides had an in-depth exchange on topics such as the digital transformation of rural education in Africa and the training of digital teaching staff. Zhou introduced the work of BNU in areas such as smart education, remote teaching platforms, and the construction of the China-Africa Teacher Education Center, and expressed his willingness to cooperate with the university to jointly explore educational technology solutions suitable for Africa and the possibility of establishing a teacher training base in Tanzania.
The delegation visited the College of Education at the University of Dar es Salaam.
On the afternoon of March 12, Zhou and his delegation visited the UNESCO Tanzania Office and discussed with Michel Toto, the representative of the Office, the implementation path, policy support and international resource integration of the Digital Education Collaborative Project for Girls in Africa. Toto highly appreciated China's contribution in promoting equity in global education, and said he looked forward to deepening cooperation with BNU in teacher training and digital curriculum development.
The delegation visited the UNESCO Tanzania Office.
On the morning of March 13, Daniel Mushi and Wilson Charles Mahera, two Deputy Permanent Secretaries of Tanzania's Ministry of Education and Science and Technology, met with the delegation to exchange views on how to strengthen policy support and promote the implementation of digital education in rural schools in Africa.
Deputy Permanent secretaries of Tanzania's Ministry of Education and Science and Technology, met with the delegation.
On the afternoon of March 13, the delegation visited Mpwampwa Teacher's College and had a discussion with Gelard M. Richard, President of Mpwampwa, and teachers and students. During the field visit, the delegation focused on the demonstration classroom, gained an in-depth understanding of the use of digital technology by teachers and students in the classroom, and had a live exchange with teachers and students on the challenges and solutions in digital teaching practice.
The delegation visited Mpwampwa Teacher's College.
On the morning of March 14, the "Beijing Normal University - UNESCO: Digital Education Collaborative Project for Girls in Africa" was officially launched in Dodoma, Tanzania. Zhou , together with Michel Toto and Abdul Maulid, Director General of the Department of Basic Education of Tanzania's Ministry of Education and Science and Technology, and other senior representatives of relevant institutions attended and addressed the event. The participants unanimously stressed the importance of the project to empower African girls through digital education and to promote gender equality and the development of digital education in Tanzania and the entire African region.
the Launch Ceremony of the project (Tanzania)
During their stay in Tanzania, the delegation specially visited the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania. Che Zhaoguang, Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania and Director of the Chinese Cultural Center, met with the delegation. Both sides had an in-depth exchange on deepening educational cooperation between China and Tanzania. The embassy put forward constructive suggestions from aspects such as policy support, resource connection and risk prevention.
The delegation visited the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania.
On the morning of March 17, the delegation visited the UNESCO Ghana Office and exchanged views with Edmond Moukala, representative of the Office, on the development of girls' education in Africa, innovation in digital education and other topics. Zhou introduced the project, which Edmund spoke highly of and said that the Ghana Office will fully support the implementation of the project in Ghana.
The delegation visited the UNESCO Ghana Office.
On March 17 at noon, the delegation visited the STEM Center in Accra, Ghana, to investigate the local practice of science and technology innovation education. The relevant person in charge showed the delegation the distinctive courses such as robot programming and 3D printing. Both sides had an in-depth exchange on issues such as the digital transformation of STEM education and course development, and reached a preliminary intention on future cooperation in areas such as teacher training and resource sharing.
The delegation visited the STEM Center.
On the afternoon of March 17, the delegation visited the Association of African Universities and held talks with Frederick Ato Armah, Director of the Research and Program Department, and heads of relevant departments. The two sides discussed concrete ways to strengthen China-Africa higher education cooperation. The content mainly included student exchange, joint research, digital education resource sharing, etc.
The delegation visited the Association of African Universities.
On the morning of March 18, the launch meeting of the "Beijing Normal University - UNESCO: Digital Education Collaborative Project for Girls in Africa" was held in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Zhou attended the event together with Edmond Moukala, Nana Baffour, Director of the Basic Education Division of the Ministry of Education of Ghana, and representatives of the Chinese Embassy in Ghana. Representatives had in-depth exchanges on the specific plans for the implementation of the project and expressed their common willingness to strengthen cooperation.
the Launch Ceremony of the project (Ghana)
On the afternoon of March 18, the delegation visited the University of Ghana. Vice President Gordon Awandare and Director of the Confucius Institute Wang Jimin met with the delegation respectively. The two sides had in-depth exchanges on topics such as deepening China-Africa higher education cooperation and promoting the innovative development of digital education.
The delegation visited the University of Ghana.
On the morning of March 19, the delegation visited the Accra College of Education and held talks with President Samuel Awinkene Atintono and heads of relevant departments. The two sides had in-depth exchanges on topics such as teacher education and training and education quality improvement, and discussed the feasibility of strengthening cooperation in the context of current education development.
The delegation visited the Accra College of Education.
During the visit, the delegation also visited many primary and secondary schools in Tanzania and Ghana. These include Zanaki Secondary School, Dodoma Secondary School and Dodoma Airport School. Through the inspection, the delegation had an in-depth understanding of the current situation of local digital education infrastructure construction and the practical application of digital technology in classroom teaching. They exchanged views with teachers and students on learning needs, teaching challenges and digital solutions. In addition, the delegation also communicated with the relevant representatives of Huawei Technology Company in Ghana and Shenzhen Transsion Holdings Co., Ltd. in Ghana, and discussed the possibility of relevant cooperation.
The delegation visited schools and Huawei Technology Company in Ghana.
This visit further deepened the educational cooperation between BNU and Africa, laid a solid foundation for the implementation of the project, and also opened a new situation for the future in-depth cooperation in rural education, teacher development, education informatization and other fields.