Capitol Hill, Monrovia – The People’s Republic of China has offered one hundred and thirty-one scholarships to young Liberians. The scholarship runs through four universities in Liberia. The four universities includes University of Liberia, Tubman University, Cuttington University, and Bomi Community College respectively.
Since its establishment in 2011, the Chinese Ambassador’s Scholarship has been given to over a thousand deserving Liberian students. The scholarship has boosted the students’ motivation to work hard and fulfil their goals, heightened their curiosity about studying Chinese, deepened their understanding of China, and planted the seeds of friendship between China and Liberia.
Speaking at the event, Yin Chengwu, the Chinese ambassador to Liberia, stated that education is vital to a nation, its culture, and its society. The Chinese have placed a high value on education since ancient times. He mentioned that education is the first step towards cultivating good habits in a country. Over 2,000 years ago, the ancient Chinese sages made this statement. The Chinese government has worked very hard to advance education in the modern era. President Xi Jinping of China made the historic decision to expedite the modernization of education and establish a robust educational system, particularly in the last few years.
Amb. Yin added that with 293 million students, 518,300 schools of all kinds, and over 18 million full-time instructors, China currently has the largest educational system in the world. Simultaneously, China aspires to train an increasing number of highly talented and technical personnel and has developed into the largest vocational education system in the world, with roughly 10 million highly skilled and technical personnel trained annually in middle and high vocational schools.
He went on to say that China actively collaborates and exchanges knowledge in education with other countries. China has collaborated and exchanged knowledge in education with 188 nations, regions, and over 40 significant international organisations.
More than 800 Liberian students have been sponsored by the Chinese government to pursue degree programmes through various scholarships and other programmes in China since the resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Liberia in 2003. Additionally, more than 2,000 students have participated in short-term training programmes.
The University of Liberia and Changsha University of Science and Technology in China founded the Confucius Institute at UL in 2008. It has since grown to be another important initiative in the two countries’ educational collaboration. The Confucius Institute at UL has so far drawn a large number of students interested in studying Chinese and Chinese culture and has also connected hundreds of students with Chinese businesses in the area.
The collaboration between China and Liberia in the field of education has given many Liberians access to increased knowledge and skills, as well as the chance to improve their lives. There will be greater promise for China-Liberia collaboration in the field of education as long as China pursues high-level opening up, the Chinese ambassador said.
President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Civilization Initiative in March 2023. It promotes mutual understanding and friendship among people of all nations, upholds the principles of equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and inclusivity among civilizations, and works towards jointly advancing the advancement of human civilizations. The initiative offers strategic guidance for cultural exchanges and mutual learning among nations, including educational exchanges and cooperation between China and Liberia. Due to their distinct and varied cultures, China and Liberia offer a lot of opportunities for mutual learning and cultural interactions.
According to Ambassador Yin, the two nations’ cultural interaction will improve their bilateral ties. I believe that the deepening of China-Liberia cultural exchanges will promote friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation and further our bilateral relations. I sincerely hope that more and more young people from China and Liberia will get to know each other, learn and understand each other’s languages and cultures, and become a new generation of envoys of friendship between the two countries.
Meanwhile, all four universities represented at the ceremony thanked the People’s Republic of China for their continue support to Liberia’s education and development. They noted that such opportunity is not the first of its kind from the government and people of China to the people of Liberia.
In June 2023, more than a hundred master’s level scholarships were awarded to young Liberians pursuing a variety of subjects in China. Twenty-five Liberian journalists were also granted permission to visit China in September 2023 for a brief research stay.
Many older individuals are pleading with the Chinese people to raise the age limit for the master’s and PhD scholarship programme, even though many have applauded the Chinese government for supporting Young Liberians. The master program’s upper age limit is currently 35. In order to encourage more Liberians to apply and take part in the process, many are pleading for the People’s Republic of China to raise the age limit to 40. It is well known that many Liberians were prevented from starting school early due to the fourteen-year civil conflict.
