On 28th October, 2009, the first Chinese school in Zambia teaching Chinese language was opened under the joint efforts from the Chinese Embassy in Zambia, Hanban (the CI Headquarters), and the Ministry of Education of Zambia. Two volunteer Chinese teachers were dispatched to the school, and an initial sponsorship of US$ 4,500 for buying books was presented to the school. In addition, two computers and some office equipment were handed over by the Chinese Embassy in Zambia, on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The Chinese courses in this school were mainly categorized into three parts according to the levels of education on offer: division of early-age education (age from 2 to 6), division of pre-adolescent children and the division of adulthood. The division of pre-adolescent children is subdivided into class for the locals and class for learners of Chinese origin. The school has continued teaching Chinese language to date.
On 26th July 2010, the the Confucius Institute at the University of Zambia (CI-UNZA) was established, under the direct leadership of Hanban (CI Headquarters) with the Hebei University of Economics and Business. Following this establishment, UNZA introduced the first class of Chinese language teaching under the Department of Literature and languages. The initial stages involved teaching of Chinese language on short course basis. The short courses were open (and still are) to students, lecturers and the general public at a very minimal charge. The idea for introducing short courses in Chinese language at UNZA was to stimulate interest in the Chinese language among students, lecturers and the general public.
During the past six years since CI-UNZA’s establishment, 19 teaching sites have been set up throughout Zambia. These sites are located in Lusaka, Mulungushi University (in Central Province), Copperbelt University (on the Copperbelt Provinc), LIBES in Livingstone (Southern Province), Rhodes Park, Mary Queen of Peace (private schools situated in Lusaka), Luanshya Trust School (another private school situated on the Copperbelt) and the rest of the schools are spread around the ten provinces of Zambia. In these schools, particularly, Rhodes Park and Luanshya Trust Schools, the Confucius Classes have been established.
According to latest statistics, the size of Chinese language learners in Zambia has so far reached a total of 8,496. This number includes all students under the Chinese degree program from CIUNZA, students on short-term Chinese training from different universities across Zambia, students from primary and secondary schools, the students of Kungfu study, and so on. Finally, all Chinese language related education in Zambia is mainly being spearheaded by CI-UNZA.