China gives South Sudan primary school textbooks

JUBA — South Sudan's Ministry of General Education and Instruction on Feb 1 received 330,000 printed textbooks from the Chinese government for primary one learners.

The printed textbooks under the China-Aided Phase II Technical Cooperation Project of Education in South Sudan are for the subjects of English, mathematics and science.

"Today we are very thankful for receiving the learning and teaching materials from the project. I have instructed the operation of distribution to be well-organized to ensure these materials reach the hands of those who need them so that the South Sudanese pupils and learners will benefit," Awut Deng Acuil, Minister of General Education and Instruction said in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, during the handover ceremony.

Other additional materials handed over include tangram and mathematics packages for primary schools and laboratory equipment for secondary schools.

"South Sudan is shaping up its education system, implementing competency and skills in learners at the pre-primary, primary, secondary levels, and alternative education system, an idea that echoes the education system development in China that spurred its technology over the decades," Acuil said, adding that hundreds of teachers and educational managers will be organized to participate in the capacity-building programs.

In December, the ministry together with educational experts from China, completed the review of the English, mathematics and science textbooks for primary two to four developed by Shanghai Educational Publishing House.

The Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan Ma Qiang said the education sector has always been a priority area for exchanges and cooperation between the two countries since the independence of South Sudan in 2011.

Ma said the successful implementation of the China-Aided Phase I Technical Cooperation Project of Education in South Sudan in 2018 marked the first comprehensive China-aided technical cooperation in the education sector for developing countries.

"The delivery of the project was affirmed by the South Sudanese government and educational participants, with over 1 million textbooks in the subjects of mathematics, science, and English shipped to Juba, bringing direct benefits to over 150,000 South Sudanese teachers and students," Ma said, adding that more than 200 South Sudanese teachers were invited to China for capacity-building courses during the implementation of the China-aided technical cooperation in education in South Sudan.

"In 2023, the project implementation is scheduled to cover the development and review of primary five to eight textbooks for the subjects of English, mathematics and science, the capacity-building for hundreds of teachers and school managers, as well as the printing and delivery of over nearly 1 million textbooks," Ma said.