40 Ghanaian students to study in China
The Chinese Embassy in Accra has held a farewell reception for over 40 Ghanaian students who will be studying in China under the Chinese Government Scholarship Programme for 2017/2018.
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The students, who will be leaving the country in September for China, will study in various areas and are expected to also learn the Chinese culture and return to the country to contribute to its development with the knowledge and skills they will acquire.
In her farewell address, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Madam Sun Boahong, said currently, 5,516 Ghanaian students were studying in China and that number topped the number of all African students studying in China for three consecutive years.
Last year, she said 1,200 Ghanaians received training in China and this figure also ranked top of all foreigners who received training programmes in China.
The Ambassador noted that 467 people had already completed their training programmes in China,this year.
Second Asian-African Youth Festival
Ambassador Boahong announced that next month, China will invite 10 young Ghanaians from various areas or fields to participate in the Second Asian-African Youth Festival, while in October, the Chinese Hanban would assign a martial arts delegation to visit Ghana to stage wonderful Chinese arts performances for Ghanaians.
To date, she noted, 1,006 Ghanaian students had received Chinese government scholarships, saying that China had been receiving Ghanaian students since 1960.
The Ambassador observed that China had been helping Ghana to improve on her education infrastructure, saying that they had aided the construction of primary schools in rural areas, namely the New Century Vocational Training School Expansion Project in Accra, the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho and a Chinese loan to implement Distance Education Project at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Again, she said two Confucius Institutes had been established in Ghana, adding that since 2014, the Chinese Embassy had donated eight China-Ghana Friendship ICT Classrooms in seven regions in Ghana to enable the students in rural/remote areas to use the Internet and realise their dreams.
She emphasised that China developed and enriched the human civilisation with unique cultural thinking and performance, saying Chinese civilisation was brilliant and also inclusive, promoting mutual learning and deep integration among civilisations.
First Lady’s advice
In her advice to the students while bidding them farewell, Ghana’s First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, pointed out that some opportunities had great impact on our destinies, saying “the opportunity to study in China is one of those destiny defining moments for our scholarship awardees.”
She expressed her belief in the potential of society to recreate itself through the intellect, energy, drive and ingenuity of young people and said she believed that a society that failed to offer the young with the right environment, skills and space to change society, would stagnate.
She reminded the students that some great Ghanaians had the opportunity to study outside and returned to the country to make significant changes to the society.
The First Lady congratulated the awardees and said they had the obligation to soak up every bit of knowledge and orientation that would be given them in China.
“Do not limit yourself to the classroom. Study the Chinese society, their culture and their history,” she advised.
“Trust me, you will find positive things to learn that will shape your future,” she added.
Mrs Akufo-Addo thanked the government and people of China for decades of fruitful bilateral relations with Ghana.
Present at the reception were the Minister of Education, Mr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Madam Catherine Afeku, the Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Charles Owiredu.