South Sudan: 50 South Sudanese Off to
Ethiopia On Three-Year Scholarship
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Juba — At least 50
students from South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria state are set to benefit from
three-year undergraduate teaching scholarship in Ethiopia, as part of a
strategic partnership agreement the two countries signed in March this year.
The education
scholarship, granted by the State Government of Southern Nations, Nationalities
and the Peoples Regional State in Ethiopia, only targeted students drawn from
various parts of the state.
The three-year diploma
programme, officials says, will enormously contribute to the development of the
teaching profession in a country, where teacher to student rations are still
very low and illiteracy rates extremely worrying.
Rebecca Joshua Okwaci,
South Sudan's deputy minister for General Education and Instructions lauded the
Ethiopian government for extending such an opportunity to South Sudanese
students, describing education as a key pillar for any nation to develop.
"Education is one
of the key priorities of this nation, hence the need to fully develop it so our
people can benefit from good quality education service," she said.
The deputy minister,
while speaking at the students' farewell occasion, also gave a brief historical
relationship between Ethiopia and South Sudan, which she said, dates back to
the years of South Sudan's long civil wars.
"The physical war
is finished. Now is the time to South Sudanese to focus on capacity building
through education," stressed the deputy minister.
She however appealed
to the student to be good ambassadors to the young nation as they embark on
their three-year educational journey in neighboring Ethiopia.
Fre Tesfamichael
Tesfatsion, the Ethiopian ambassador to South Sudan said, although education
was a priority in the cooperation agreement between the two countries, there is
need to also focus on provision of technical skills, among others.
He said the strategic
partnership agreement, which the two countries
signed on 2 March
2012, also encompassed nine other sectoral agreements, including peace and
security, service, governance and the economy.
"However,
education is identified as one of the priority areas of the cooperation. We
have to work together if we are to develop together," he emphasized.
The ambassador,
further warned to the students, not to go the Ethiopia for "tourism"
purpose, but use this initiative as an opportunity to acquire knowledge and
skills, which they can apply in their various communities.
Meanwhile, 20
additional South Sudanese students, according to Tesfamichael, have also been
earmarked to benefit from graduate level scholarships to be provided by Mekelle
University, one of Ethiopia's leading higher educational institutions.
In a related
development, Michael Lopuke, Eastern Equatoria State's Education minister said
the students' selection criterion was fair and balanced, mainly targeting those
who completed secondary level of education.
Lopuke, who was
accompanied by his health counterpart, Margaret Itto and other lawmakers from
the state, decried the poor state of the road network linking Eastern Equatoria
state and it's neighboring Ethiopia, which he said deprive easy movement of
people and goods.
"The movement of
these students would have been very easy if the road linking these two
neighboring states was in good condition," he said.
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