Chinese embassy donates textbooks, scholastic materials to Chinese built school
Ma Qiang, Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan (Left) hands over a backpack to a student at the Chinese Friendship Secondary School during celebrations of the Chinese Day event on Oct.23,2025 in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
By Denis Ejulu
The Chinese embassy in South Sudan on Thursday donated hundreds of textbooks and scholastic materials to aid learning at the China Friendship Secondary School in the capital, Juba.
The donations that also included backpacks were made during an event organized by the school to celebrate “Chinese Day”, which was attended by the 13th batch of the Chinese medical team, members of the Chinese peacekeeping force under the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and officials from the Central Equatoria State government.
Cirisio Zakaria Lado, minister of general education and instruction in Central Equatoria State said that the school built by the Chinese government in 2011 symbolizes the strong contribution of the latter towards the development of education in the youngest nation.
“This is the 15th year of the strong friendship between South Sudan and the People’s Republic of China. This friendship has resulted into many benefits to the people of South Sudan, we have graduated many learners with the help from China and this proves the strong relationship between our two countries,” Lado said at the ceremony held in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
Nelson Wani Dere, head master of the Chinese Friendship Secondary School said that the school which currently accommodates 990 learners has provided opportunity for several children from humble families to access quality education over the past years since it’s inception.
“We have graduated many students, of which some of them have become ministers, director generals and university graduates. If it was not for the Chinese government we would see some of these students out of school or resorting to crime,” he said.
Ma Qiang, Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan stressed that China has always given high strategic priority to development of education.
He emphasized that China’s strong priority towards education has not only made it to become the world’s second-largest economy, but also the largest manufacturer and the largest trader in goods, including being a major trading partner of more than 150 countries and regions.
“For many years, China has been actively supporting the development of education in South Sudan. We have built schools and provided them with supplies. We have compiled and distributed over 3 million primary and secondary school textbooks for South Sudanese students,” Ma said.
In addition, he said that China has also assisted over 400 South Sudanese teachers by facilitating their training opportunities in China.
