JUBA, July 17 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan seeks to strengthen cooperation with China in a bid to boost education development, the country's education minister said on Wednesday.
Deng Deng Hoc Yai, South Sudan's minister of general education and instruction, said Juba seeks to expand the existing cooperation with Beijing in an effort to increase education opportunities in the east African nation.
The minister revealed that the two countries have begun discussions on a new education agreement that would allow China to print more text books for South Sudan and also increase exchange programs.
He said the agreement would also cover issues of capacity building for the South Sudanese people.
"We have a lot of young people who are learning in China for bachelor, masters and some for PhDs," said Yai.
"We have also a lot of teachers and head teachers who were taken to China for training and many of them have come back and they are now doing a lot better than before," he added.
Since gaining independence in July 2011, Beijing has contributed to South Sudan's education sector by constructing at least three schools, offered capacity building to hundreds of teachers and also helped the country with the printing of 750,000 textbooks.
