by Julius Gale
JUBA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese youth who acquired university education in various Chinese universities said Beijing's educational engagement with the East African nation is vital for development of the war-torn country.
William Garang Majok, who graduated with a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of International Business and Economics, said the Chinese education system is best suited for South Sudanese as it offers theoretical and practical education based on modern technology.
He said that China's increased educational and human resource development partnership with African countries would boost cooperation in various sectors.
"Studying in China is pretty much rewarding in terms of experience and education itself because China is a multicultural country. It is relevant to South Sudan," Majok said.
Kur John Aleu, a student pursuing Masters Degree Program in Transportation Engineering at Beijing Jiaotong University, said the way China has developed into the world's second biggest economy is the best thing South Sudan can copy in terms of development.
He said Chinese education goes beyond classroom-based learning to enhanced cultural exchanges and people-to-people relations.
"Chinese people believe in hard work and I think that is one aspect that the people of South Sudan should copy so that we work hard and believe in ourselves," Aleu said.
While in China, Aleu said he learnt a lot about China's rich cultural and ethnic diversity and he would bring the new education and skills to develop his country which is currently facing ethnic division caused by more than three years of civil war.
"China has 52 ethnic groups whereas in South Sudan we have 64. But the way they have managed their diversity could actually be the best model that South Sudan can use to forge national unity. So studying in China is the best thing that I have experienced in life and I'm impressed by the level of cooperation between the two governments," he said.
Li Xiangfeng, charge d'affaires at the Chinese Embassy in South Sudan, revealed last week that Beijing has offered at least 4,100 scholarships and short-term training programs for South Sudanese.
Another batch of more than 200 South Sudanese students are due to go to China after being awarded Chinese government scholarships to study undergraduate and postgraduate programs at various Chinese universities.
Andrew Vuga Jackson, who acquired a Masters degree from the Communication University of China, said the Chinese government's focus on African human resource and education development is relevant for win-win cooperation as scholarships are not just government-to-government relationship, but goes beyond to people-to-people and culture-to-culture relationship building.
"Although China is considered as one of the developing countries, it offered us good and relevant education. I would like to thank the people of China for paying their taxes to the government and these taxes are being shared with the people of South Sudan," Vuga said.
