Russia launches education centers in Africa

Russian education centers have opened in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The facilities will provide local students with the opportunity to study Russian and learn more about the country’s culture.   

The Russian State University of Education inaugurated its Center for Open Education in Russian and Russian Language Education at the University of Lagos in Nigeria on Wednesday.   

The ceremony was attended by Russian State University of Education vice-rector Dmitry Kulikov and the management of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lagos.  

Russian-language teachers held an open lesson during which they introduced students to Russian culture, provided them with study aids, and presented souvenirs from Russia. 

More than 50 countries, including 28 in Africa, are currently part of the Russian Education Ministry’s large-scale project to establish a network of open education centers. 

A Russian Center for Open Education was also launched on Wednesday in Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire), in cooperation with Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University.   

Earlier this month, a similar center was opened at the University of Kinshasa in the DRC. Scientific adviser Lofembe Benkenya thanked the Russian Education Ministry for implementing the project.  

“I hope this center for education and learning of the Russian language will be a real crossroads to exchange knowledge and cultures, where teachers and learners interact beyond simple initiation, to make Congolese values known in the Russian language, and to transfer the history of culture and values of Russia,” he said.  

Aleksey Sentebov, the Russian envoy to Kinshasa, stressed the importance of the Russian language. “It is the sixth language in the world according to the number of speakers, eighth according to prevalence, and second according to the number of websites on the internet,” the diplomat stated.

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