Russian Language Education Centers to Open in 28 African Countries This Year: Official

Russia's Ministry of Education plans to open education centers in Russian in 28 African countries this year alongside 14 Russian pedagogical universities, Deputy Minister Denis Gribov has told media.

"We plan to involve young residents of African countries who are effectively learning Russian in our Olympiads, contests, and events. In general, we consider our African colleagues among the significant strategic partners in the development of education," he said.

In particular, it is planned to open centers in Algeria, Angola, Ghana, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Mozambique, the Republic of the Congo, Tunisia, Uganda, Ethiopia, South Africa.

In addition, the Ministry of Education is reportedly processing requests for the construction of Russian schools in at least three African countries. At the moment, as the Deputy Minister recalled, a project is being implemented to build Russian schools in CIS countries.

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"Five modern schools with a capacity of more than 1,200 students each have already been built in Tajikistan. An agreement has been signed on the construction of nine joint schools in Kyrgyzstan, dialogue is underway on the construction of four schools in Armenia, schools in Vietnam and the Republic of Uzbekistan. A separate direction is the opening of educational organizations in the format of a public-private partnership with an educational line based on Russian educational standards," the official stated.

In addition, in cooperation with pedagogical universities, adapted programs and technologies will be developed for these educational organizations, allowing them to apply the best Russian practices as effectively as possible, taking into account local mental, cultural and educational characteristics, as well as the level of training of schoolchildren.

In April this year, a test of Russian language proficiency was conducted for young pupils from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Morocco, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan on board the nuclear-powered icebreaker Lenin off the coast of Murmansk in the Barents Sea in northern Russia.

In the yearly national spelling bee Total Dictation that is hosted in Russia, children from Africa and Asia demonstrated their command of Tolstoy's language.