On July 22, the donation ceremony for the “Shanghai Love Classroom” took place at Moi University in Kenya. Distinguished attendees included Shang Yuying, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government; Yan Bo, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau; Chen Ge, Vice President of Donghua University; Isaac Kosgey, President of Moi University; and Isaac Kimengi, Vice President in charge of Academic, Research, and Student Affairs. The “Shanghai Love Classroom” project, initiated by the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation, aims to promote the Belt and Road Initiative by implementing a series of public welfare projects to spread the philanthropic philosophy of Soong Ching Ling worldwide. Supported by the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation and Shanghai Junyao Group, Donghua University donated electronic classroom facilities to Moi University, including touch-integrated video screens, remote direct recording systems, and sound equipment, so as to establish standardized smart classrooms. This contribution is expected to significantly enhance the digital education capabilities at Moi University and explore innovative paths for international educational cooperation.
( “Shanghai Love Classroom” unveiling ceremony)
As the implementing organization for the “Shanghai Love Classroom” project, Donghua University was selected in 2024 as a member of the “China-Africa Universities 100 Cooperation Plan” and the “China-Africa University Consortium” exchange mechanism, with a focus on digital education. The university has consistently leveraged its academic strengths to promote global educational equity through digital empowerment. Utilizing smart classrooms, virtual teaching and research platforms, and virtual simulation training platforms, Donghua University has collaborated with over 40 specialized institutions in textiles, materials, and fashion from 19 countries to conduct online talent training programs, offer premium online courses, and has hosted nine sessions of the China-Africa Textile and Apparel International Forum and China-Africa Cultural Exchange Forum, as well as four sessions of the Textile and Apparel Industry Belt and Road Capacity Building Advanced Workshop. These initiatives continue to drive the development of a new engineering education community in the textile industry in the digital age. Looking ahead, Donghua University aims to establish a “China-Africa Digital Education Center”. Leveraging the “Shanghai Love Classroom” platform and its digital education resources, the university plans to deepen cooperation with African universities and vocational colleges, establish a China-Africa Center of Excellence in Digital Education, and explore the establishment of a digital education cooperation mechanism through academic conferences, industry-academia-research projects, and cultural exchange activities, thereby expanding the scope and depth of China-Africa educational cooperation and contributing to global digital governance in education and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Donghua University has been enrolling African students since 1954, training over ten thousand outstanding textile technology professionals for 11 African countries. Since 2011, the university has engaged in academic exchanges and cooperation with Moi University under the framework of the China-Africa 20+20 Cooperation Plan, and in 2015, the two universities jointly established the world’s only Confucius Institute with a focus on textiles and apparel. Through high-end academic forums, lectures, and training sessions, the universities have actively promoted cultural and academic exchanges in humanities and textiles between China and Africa. In 2018, Donghua University led the establishment of the World Textile University Alliance, collaborating with Moi University, Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia, the Moroccan Textile and Apparel Industry Association, Suez Canal University in Egypt, and University of Gezira in Sudan, making significant contributions to the deepening of China-Africa relations.
This donation event received extensive coverage from China Daily and mainstream media in Kenya, including prime-time reports by Kenya National Television (KNT), Radio Maisha, and Nation FM Online Radio.
(KNT reporting the event)
