SIGNATURE OF THE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE BANK OF AFRICA FOUNDATION AND ABDELMALEK ESSAÂDI UNIVERSITY, THE CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE OF TANGIER FOR THE TEACHING OF MANDARIN IN BOUGDUR 3 December 2019

The President of the BANK OF AFRICA Foundation for Education and Environment, Dr. Leïla MEZIAN BENJELLOUN, signed this Tuesday, December 3, 2019 an agreement with the Confucius Institute of Tangier in the presence of the Councillor and wife of the Chinese Ambassador to Morocco, Mrs. ZHAO, the President of the Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Dr. Mohammed ERRAMI and the Administrator of the Foundation, Mr. Brahim BENJELLOUN. This new partnership will enable the school of Bougdour, Tangier Tetouan El Hoceima region, to benefit from face-to-face Mandarin lessons for the 5th and 6th years of primary school.

The signing of this agreement follows the visit of the Chinese Ambassador to the school of Bouskoura, a pioneer in the teaching of Mandarin in primary schools in Morocco. Indeed, language courses are provided to students in grades 5 and 6, and recently in grade 4, either in person for Bouskoura or remotely, for two of the Medersat.com schools in the province of Nador, and this, since 2014. The agreement between the Foundation and the Confucius Institute of Casablanca, of the Hassan II University, signed in 2014, has allowed the schools of Nador, geographically distant from the Institutes, to benefit from the videoconference-delivered material offered by the Chinese Embassy. For its part, the Foundation has, over the last two years, enrolled the two best students from the Network in courses at the Institute, in order to prepare them for a language stay in Shanghai.

In view of the success of teaching Mandarin, and the interest that children are developing in Chinese culture, the President of the Foundation expressed her wish to extend these courses to other schools and other levels, particularly at the secondary school level. A project will be launched soon, in partnership with the Ministry of National Education. In addition to language teaching, each year the BANK OF AFRICA Foundation and the Confucius Institute will celebrate the Chinese New Year by organising a show for children who discover singing, dancing, martial arts, calligraphy and many other aspects of Chinese culture.