On July 14, the first batch of 745,000 textbooks printed by China South Media arrives in Juba, the capital of South Suda

The first batch of teachers from South Sudan came to China for training.

Children in South Sudan

Rednet, Changsha, July 14(Reporter: Yang Yan) -- 745,000 textbooks have traveled tens of thousands of kilometers from Changsha to Juba to help with the initial construction of education in South Sudan. On July 14, China’s first comprehensive education aid project -- China-aided Technical Cooperation Project of Education in South Sudan, initiated by the Ministry of Commerce, undertaken by China South Publishing & Media Group Co., Ltd., and carried out by Teewon Digital Media Technology Co., Ltd., made another stage of progress. The first batch of 745,000 textbooks and the equipment of the ICT teacher training center arrived in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

On December 23, 2016, the implementation agreement of China’s first comprehensive education aid project, initiated by the Ministry of Commerce and undertaken by China South Publishing & Media Group, was signed in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. According to the cooperation plan, the project will print 1,299,000 textbooks for South Sudan. The textbooks are expected to be used by 150,000 teachers and students, accounting for about 10% of the country’s teachers and students. The first batch of 745,000 textbooks in 37 categories will be used by 100,000 students and teachers in South Sudan. The second batch of 554,000 textbooks in 43 categories will be printed by the end of the year.

“This new mode of cultural education going out can make our culture export have lasting power, and even affect generations of local students and teachers, so as to form the possibility for Chinese culture to take root and sprout in this country for a long time.” Gong Shuguang, the chairman of China South Publishing & Media Group, said the education project in South Sudan was driven by our sense of responsibility to the international community and China South Media Group was pushing ahead. The project is expected to comprehensively improve the education environment in South Sudan, help it build a comprehensive development system of modern education, and lay a solid foundation for education in this young country.

Ding Shuangping, the director and general manager of China South Media, said that China-aided South Sudan education project combined the national conditions and the current situation of education, and focused on comprehensively improving the education environment in South Sudan and helping it build a comprehensive development system of modern education from five modules, namely top-level education planning, textbook development, teacher training, the construction of ICT teacher training center and textbook printing. Yang Mu, the general manager of Teewon Digital Media, said: “South Sudan is a very young country that has just gone through wars. The conditions are extremely backward and the country needs education urgently. We will tailor education products to local needs.”

At present, in addition to the China-aided textbooks that will soon be available in classrooms in South Sudan, breakthroughs have been made in other parts of the project. Investigation Report on Education Development in South Sudan, one of the top-level education planning reports of South Sudan, has been finished and submitted to the Ministry of Commerce. The first draft of Guide to Information-based Education Construction in South Sudan and Guide to Education Modernization Construction in South Sudan will be completed in mid-July and mid-September respectively.

The first group of 58 teachers from South Sudan has completed their training in China. As “seed teachers”, they will return to South Sudan to further train local teachers. The second group of more than 140 “seed teachers” from South Sudan will soon come to China for training. These “seed teachers” will soon be able to train other local teaching staff in the modern, information-based ICT training center built by China South Media Group.

At the same time, Hunan Education Press, Hunan Children’s Publishing House, Hunan Science and Technology Press and Teewon Digital Media gathered top edit team for basic education in China to compile textbooks for math, English and science for primary schools(Grade 1 to Grade 8) in South Sudan, in order to provide tailored and good textbooks to students and teachers, and help with the education reconstruction in South Sudan. The new textbooks for the three subjects are expected to be ready for acceptance in October this year, followed by printing, which is expected to be shipped to Juba early next year.