The Confucius Institute at UCC held the “2022 Chinese Ambassador Scholarship Awards” awards ceremony on the 16th of September, 2022, at 10:30 a.m, at the Naana Opoku Agyeman Auditorium (Amissah Arthur Language Center) of the University of Cape Coast. The Chinese Ambassador Scholarship was established by the Embassy of China in Ghana. Each year, a number of awards are given to outstanding Chinese language students. The scholarship covers a wide range of students, from primary to university. This is to encourage students to learn Chinese and provide opportunities for them to study in China or secure jobs in Chinese enterprises. Present at the event were the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, His excellency Ambassador Lu Kun, the Vice Chancellor of UCC, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong, Registrar, Mr. Jeff Teye Emmanuel Onyame, Provost of College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Kwame Osei Kwarteng, the Provost of the College of Education Studies, Prof. Ernest Davies, Mr. Shen Hanming from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and other representatives from Chinese enterprises Ghana. Also present were some heads and teachers of the various CIUCC teaching centres; University Primary School, Penuel International School, Westend International School, University Practice SHS, Winged Height International school, Takoradi Technical University, and University of Mines and Technology. With the national anthems of China and Ghana playing, the Chinese ambassador scholarship ceremony kicked off.
Prof. OU Yamei, the China Director of CIUCC gave a speech to formally welcome the guests. She expressed her gratitude to the Chinese Ambassador His Excellency Lu Kun for the scholarship awarded to the students from the various schools. She also thanked the Vice-chancellor Prof Johnson Nyarko Boampong and Provost, Prof Kwarteng for their constant support to the institute and for taking time out of their busy schedule to attend the ceremony.
Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong accepted the chairmanship position and warmly welcomed everybody to the event. He indicated that the
Chinese Ambassador His Excellency Lu Kun had donated $11,000 to be shared among the 140 awardees from the various schools. He added that the awardees were the best performing students and the award is to encourage the students to learn Chinese. He further added that there are numerous employment opportunities in the growing number of Chinese enterprises in Ghana and Chinese scholarship opportunities as well. He also stated that “literacy in Chinese language and culture is important to not only those who want to work in Chinese company but those who want to be globally competitive and to seize the opportunity of socio-economic development in Ghana.”
Ambassador Lu Kun in his address talked of the bilateral relationship and support that exist between Ghana and China. He indicated that more than 6,000 Ghanaian students are studying in China at present and as China becomes the second largest economy in the world, learning Chinese helps you not only have a great understanding of China but also realize your dreams. He also added that language and culture can shorten the distance between two people and break barriers. He assured the students that the embassy stands ready to assist Ghanaians who wish to study in China. He further praised the China Director, OU Yamei for the good work and the significant contributions of the Confucius Institute, UCC to Chinese education.
The Ghana Director(CIUCC), Prof. Ishmael Mensah thanked the Chinese embassy in Ghana and Ambassador Lu Kun for their constant support to the Confucius Institute and for donating a significant amount to be awarded to the students. He also congratulated all the awards and encouraged them to continue to study the Chinese language.
Students came in turns to receive their awards. On behalf of the awardees, Daniel Sekyi delivered an acceptance speech expressing his gratitude to the teachers of CIUCC for their support and expressed his determination to learn Chinese well so that he becomes an ambassador for the China-Ghana exchange program. The event was also marked by a series of performances from students of various teaching centres, a martial arts performance by Enock Essel and Elijah Asamoah, and a song by Joseph Kyerementeng and Joseph Odame.
The masters of Ceremony were Ms. Jiang Peiyun and Dr. Isaac Ibrahim.
https://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/140-students-honoured-for-excelling-in-chinese-language/
https://english.news.cn/20220917/72e15e0a84c647f1b023d79253cdd385/c.html