[LINK] "China sponsors S Africa to teach Mandarin in schools"

[rfmcdonald]

Al Jazeera's Azad Essa describes controversy in South Africa over the introduction of the Chinese language into school curriculums. Part of this controversy seems to come from the introduction of a foreign language into a multilingual education system, while more comes from concern over the role of the Confucius Institute.

China is helping to fund a South African programme to introduce Mandarin into the national public school curriculum as an optional language in 2016, officials have said.

A leading expert in Sino-Africa relations said the move will be a game changer in the country's dealings with China, but the plan has also run into criticism, with the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (SADTU) describing the programme as "tantamount to a new form of colonisation".

The Department of Basic Education confirmed that China will train hundreds of South African teachers and build three Confucius Institutes in a bid to promote Chinese culture.

[. . . T]he SADTU's general secretary, Mugwena Maluleke, told local radio station PowerFM, that the union would "not welcome the imposition of Mandarin in our schools".

The union's general secretary said introducing Mandarin would not raise the level of education and that it was still in the best interests of the country to prioritise mathematics and science in childrens' mothertongues.