South Sudan to send 150 teachers to China for training program

JUBA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Officials of South Sudan have announced that it would send 150 teachers and school managers to China for training this week under the second phase of the China-Aided Technical Cooperation Project in Education.

Deputy Minister of General Education and Instruction Martin Tako Moyi said Wednesday that the first batch of 65 teachers and school managers would depart for China Friday to undergo a month-long training.

The remaining 85 teachers and school managers would travel to China in two phases, Moyi said, disclosing that the government had appealed to several countries to train South Sudanese teachers, but only China responded positively.

"We have appealed to so many countries to train our teachers in their countries, but nobody has responded, except the people and the government of China," Moyi said during the opening ceremony for the training program in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

He said that the Chinese government had shown commitment to building the capacity of teachers and school managers, which in turn would improve the quality of learning in the world's youngest nation.

The training will be conducted in both Juba, the capital of South Sudan, and Shanghai by Chinese educational experts from the Shanghai Educational Publishing House. A team of six Chinese educational experts is already in Juba to train some of the teachers at the Rombur National Teacher Training Institute.

Undersecretary for the Ministry of General Education and Instruction Kuyok Abol Kuyok said that under the project, they have managed to review and print textbooks in core subjects like English language, science and mathematics, which have already been distributed to schools across the country.

"Through the project, we have also trained many students and learners in the Chinese language at Juba Day Secondary School. The ministry has received requests from many schools for Chinese language classes. This is a demonstration of the success of this cultural aspect of the project," Kuyok said.

Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan Ma Qiang highlighted the historical experiences and common aspirations for development shared between South Sudan and China. He noted that in the 12 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the education sector has always been a prioritized area for exchanges and cooperation.

He said that China has supported the construction of several primary and secondary schools, trained over 5,000 professionals in various sectors, and provided hundreds of scholarships for studying in China.

"The second phase of the project, since its official launch two years ago, has delivered more than a million volumes of textbooks in the subjects of English, mathematics and science," Ma said.

He also mentioned that more than 600 teachers and school managers will undergo training programs under the second phase of the project in both Juba and Shanghai.

The second phase of the China-Aided Technical Cooperation Project in Education involves drafting, printing and provision of textbooks for some primary and secondary schools in South Sudan, organizing capacity-building programs for the teachers and the educational administrators, developing and providing an evaluation system for the usage of the textbooks, and dispatching Chinese teaching personnel to Juba to teach the Chinese language.