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It can be rare to find an Asian face, let alone an Asian woman’s face, in Africa’s political arenas. the 71-year-old Fay King Chung is an exception. As the first female governmental minister in Zimbabwe of Chinese descent, Chung spent 14 years working in the government of the Southern African country, with a particular focus on improving education. While her job posts have changed over the years, her focus has remained unwavering. Her dedication to education is a continuation of her family’s hundred-year-long history on the African continent.
Born Chinese in Africa
Fay King Chung was born into a business family. In the 1890s, her grandfather was a student and follower of Sun Yat-sen, the renowned Chinese revolutionary who fought against imperial forces in China.
Persecuted by the government for supporting Sun, Chung’s grandfather fled the country with many other young men in his village. He was 17 at that time. the men landed in Mozambique first and walked inland following the railway, finally settling in Zimbabwe, known then as Rhodesia under British colonial rule.
The 14 men were the first group of Chinese to arrive in Rhodesia. They were accepted as legal citizens by the local government, which allowed them to bring over their wives and children. But any other Chinese immigrants who followed after were considered illegals. As the result, the Chinese later became a very small group of 200 people in the country. It was isolation, in effect.
“The colonist regime had mixed feelings toward them,” explains Chung. “In some ways they were allowed to have some privileges, but sometimes they were treated rudely.”
As the minority group in a colonial society, the group could have a very tough life. Most of the Chinese were from farming families before they came to the country, and were very keen to have farms. But Rhodesian land was divided into white areas and black areas. Chinese were prohibited from buying either.
Medical care was also a problem. When Chung’s uncle was hurt in an accident, he was rushed to a hospital by ambulance, but was refused entry by hospital staff because he wasn’t white. Chinese immigrants were also not allowed to matriculate at white schools or black schools. Chung’s grandfather begged every high school in his town to take his daughter as student, but finally she did not receive secondary education. Later, Chung was the first member of her family to attend high school.
Her family’s stories and experiences instilled in Chung a belief that education was the only way to improve her fate. With the support of her family, Chung graduated from a university, later got a postgraduate Certificate in Education, and an M.Phil. In English Literature at the Britain-based University of Leeds followed.
Vital work
After graduating from the university, Chung volunteered to teach in a night school that acted as a primary training school for workers near where she lived. Some of the students were illiterate, and all were black.
According to Chung, although the Chinese had their problems in Africa, the situation facing black Africans was far worse. Blacks could only have lean land and could not learn industrial skills, and educational opportunities were rare. Before Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, there were two education systems: one for blacks and one for whites. For blacks, the teaching was rudimentary at best; the colonial government believed that educated blacks posed a threat to its rule.
At the night school, Chung increasingly felt the power of education changing the fate of those around her. In the early 1970s she became a lecturer at the University of Zambia.
In Zambia, she became a supporter of the African nationalist movement. then, in 1975, Chung joined the Zimbabwean liberation struggle as a member of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU).
“I grew up understanding politics from my grandfather,” she says. “When I went to university, I think I became more politicized.”
As a senior official in the organization, Chung was responsible for implementing ZANU’s teacher training and curriculum development in refugee camps before the country’s independence. Around 300 teachers were trained to run curricula for 9,000 students at all educational levels, from preschool to university.
After Zimbabwe’s independence, Chung was appointed Deputy Minister of Administration for the new country’s Education Ministry. In 1988, President Robert Mugabe promoted her to minister of education.
During her tenure at the Ministry of Education, Chung developed and implemented a nationwide primary and secondary education program. Its aim was obvious. Before independence, just one third of black children attended primary school, and only 4 percent of black children attended any sort of secondary school. there were only 300 black university students in the entire nation. thanks to the ministry’s efforts, it managed to get primary education for everyone within three years and secondary education for 65 percent, and the number of university students increased to 10,000.
“It’s one of the foundations for development,” says Chung.“Without education you cannot go very far.”
Educating women
Although she had once planned to become a journalist, a career in education seemed to be Chung’s destiny. When she visited China for the first time in 1973, she was surprised to learn many family members – on both her mother and father’s sides – were teachers. “So,” Chung grins, “maybe it’s genetic.”
In her family’s village, there were many elderly women who had married in 1930s whose husbands had left and never come back. Surrounded by these women, Chung was asked about whereabouts of their husbands.
“These women had lost their husbands,” she says. “the men dispersed all over the world from the village.”
Chung’s grandmother could have been one of these women. Chung’s grandfather once returned to China in the 1930s to marry a girl, a marriage that had been arranged by his family. But he ultimately left her and their child for Africa. When their child was 12 years old, Chung’s grandmother decided to stop waiting. She traveled to Rhodesia to find her husband.
“I think she’s unusual,” says Chung of her grandmother.Her grandmother’s bravery and wisdom stood as an example of how women could be masters of their own destinies, and guided Chung through her own life’s journey.
In Zimbabwe, Chung began researching the country’s first group of Chinese immigrants. Her findings showed that nearly most of this group was keen to educate boys, but not girls. And in China, Chung saw her cousin – a teacher himself – refuse to send his daughters to school. Chung began to feel even more passionate about education for women.
She became a founding member of the Forum for African Women Educationalists, which focused on strengthening education for girls and women in Africa. She also helped to found the Association for Strengthening Higher Education for Women in Africa.
“After 20 years since independence in Zimbabwe, I realized the status of women’s education is backward,” explains Chung, who believes this situation is in urgent need of fixing. “In Africa, as a whole, only 5 percent of women go to university,” she says.“I think it’s necessary to democratize secondary education for women.”
In 2002, Chung founded the Zimbabwe-based Women’s University in Africa.
“I think a women’s university can look at the issues that are important to women,” says Chung. “For example, 70 percent of women in Zimbabwe work in agriculture, but very few are trained as agricultural specialists.”
Chung resigned from the Ministry of Education after a disagreement with the government, but she continues to work to replicate her Zimbabwean education platform in developing countries around the world as UNICEF’s Chief of the Education Cluster in New York. In 1998 she returned to Africa and founded UNESCO’s International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa based in Ethiopia.
In the Zimbabwean parliamentary election of 2008, Fay King Chung returned to the political arena and stood as an independent candidate. For Chung, no matter the job, education remains her lifelong career.
Born Chinese in Africa
Fay King Chung was born into a business family. In the 1890s, her grandfather was a student and follower of Sun Yat-sen, the renowned Chinese revolutionary who fought against imperial forces in China.
Persecuted by the government for supporting Sun, Chung’s grandfather fled the country with many other young men in his village. He was 17 at that time. the men landed in Mozambique first and walked inland following the railway, finally settling in Zimbabwe, known then as Rhodesia under British colonial rule.
The 14 men were the first group of Chinese to arrive in Rhodesia. They were accepted as legal citizens by the local government, which allowed them to bring over their wives and children. But any other Chinese immigrants who followed after were considered illegals. As the result, the Chinese later became a very small group of 200 people in the country. It was isolation, in effect.
“The colonist regime had mixed feelings toward them,” explains Chung. “In some ways they were allowed to have some privileges, but sometimes they were treated rudely.”
As the minority group in a colonial society, the group could have a very tough life. Most of the Chinese were from farming families before they came to the country, and were very keen to have farms. But Rhodesian land was divided into white areas and black areas. Chinese were prohibited from buying either.
Medical care was also a problem. When Chung’s uncle was hurt in an accident, he was rushed to a hospital by ambulance, but was refused entry by hospital staff because he wasn’t white. Chinese immigrants were also not allowed to matriculate at white schools or black schools. Chung’s grandfather begged every high school in his town to take his daughter as student, but finally she did not receive secondary education. Later, Chung was the first member of her family to attend high school.
Her family’s stories and experiences instilled in Chung a belief that education was the only way to improve her fate. With the support of her family, Chung graduated from a university, later got a postgraduate Certificate in Education, and an M.Phil. In English Literature at the Britain-based University of Leeds followed.
Vital work
After graduating from the university, Chung volunteered to teach in a night school that acted as a primary training school for workers near where she lived. Some of the students were illiterate, and all were black.
According to Chung, although the Chinese had their problems in Africa, the situation facing black Africans was far worse. Blacks could only have lean land and could not learn industrial skills, and educational opportunities were rare. Before Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, there were two education systems: one for blacks and one for whites. For blacks, the teaching was rudimentary at best; the colonial government believed that educated blacks posed a threat to its rule.
At the night school, Chung increasingly felt the power of education changing the fate of those around her. In the early 1970s she became a lecturer at the University of Zambia.
In Zambia, she became a supporter of the African nationalist movement. then, in 1975, Chung joined the Zimbabwean liberation struggle as a member of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU).
“I grew up understanding politics from my grandfather,” she says. “When I went to university, I think I became more politicized.”
As a senior official in the organization, Chung was responsible for implementing ZANU’s teacher training and curriculum development in refugee camps before the country’s independence. Around 300 teachers were trained to run curricula for 9,000 students at all educational levels, from preschool to university.
After Zimbabwe’s independence, Chung was appointed Deputy Minister of Administration for the new country’s Education Ministry. In 1988, President Robert Mugabe promoted her to minister of education.
During her tenure at the Ministry of Education, Chung developed and implemented a nationwide primary and secondary education program. Its aim was obvious. Before independence, just one third of black children attended primary school, and only 4 percent of black children attended any sort of secondary school. there were only 300 black university students in the entire nation. thanks to the ministry’s efforts, it managed to get primary education for everyone within three years and secondary education for 65 percent, and the number of university students increased to 10,000.
“It’s one of the foundations for development,” says Chung.“Without education you cannot go very far.”
Educating women
Although she had once planned to become a journalist, a career in education seemed to be Chung’s destiny. When she visited China for the first time in 1973, she was surprised to learn many family members – on both her mother and father’s sides – were teachers. “So,” Chung grins, “maybe it’s genetic.”
In her family’s village, there were many elderly women who had married in 1930s whose husbands had left and never come back. Surrounded by these women, Chung was asked about whereabouts of their husbands.
“These women had lost their husbands,” she says. “the men dispersed all over the world from the village.”
Chung’s grandmother could have been one of these women. Chung’s grandfather once returned to China in the 1930s to marry a girl, a marriage that had been arranged by his family. But he ultimately left her and their child for Africa. When their child was 12 years old, Chung’s grandmother decided to stop waiting. She traveled to Rhodesia to find her husband.
“I think she’s unusual,” says Chung of her grandmother.Her grandmother’s bravery and wisdom stood as an example of how women could be masters of their own destinies, and guided Chung through her own life’s journey.
In Zimbabwe, Chung began researching the country’s first group of Chinese immigrants. Her findings showed that nearly most of this group was keen to educate boys, but not girls. And in China, Chung saw her cousin – a teacher himself – refuse to send his daughters to school. Chung began to feel even more passionate about education for women.
She became a founding member of the Forum for African Women Educationalists, which focused on strengthening education for girls and women in Africa. She also helped to found the Association for Strengthening Higher Education for Women in Africa.
“After 20 years since independence in Zimbabwe, I realized the status of women’s education is backward,” explains Chung, who believes this situation is in urgent need of fixing. “In Africa, as a whole, only 5 percent of women go to university,” she says.“I think it’s necessary to democratize secondary education for women.”
In 2002, Chung founded the Zimbabwe-based Women’s University in Africa.
“I think a women’s university can look at the issues that are important to women,” says Chung. “For example, 70 percent of women in Zimbabwe work in agriculture, but very few are trained as agricultural specialists.”
Chung resigned from the Ministry of Education after a disagreement with the government, but she continues to work to replicate her Zimbabwean education platform in developing countries around the world as UNICEF’s Chief of the Education Cluster in New York. In 1998 she returned to Africa and founded UNESCO’s International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa based in Ethiopia.
In the Zimbabwean parliamentary election of 2008, Fay King Chung returned to the political arena and stood as an independent candidate. For Chung, no matter the job, education remains her lifelong career.