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Minister of Higher Education and Training, Nobuhle Nkabane said following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the People’s Republic of China, where she was part of the delegation of Cabinet ministers, South Africa will be sending around 100 students in the coming year.
Nkabane told journalists in Pretoria that the South African students will be heading to China to study scarce skills, as part of a long-running cooperation between the two countries.
“I have just recently returned from China as part of His Excellency, President Ramaphosa’s delegation to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). What we should understand is that we have a long-standing cooperation with the People’s Republic of China in various areas of higher education and training which continues to grow and support South Africa’s knowledge and skills development,” she said.
“Our engagements during this visit aligns with South Africa’s strategic goals regarding technological advancement and international collaboration in education. We will be sending about 100 students to China in the coming year to study scarce and critical skills of the future as we advance in skills revolution towards addressing skills mismatch that the country is currently facing.”
Earlier this month, IOL reported from Beijing that in a historic move, President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping had announced unprecedented financial support packages, valued at $50.7 billion (around R904 billion), in different forms for the African continent when he met the heads of State at the FOCAC Summit in Beijing.
More than 50 African leaders, including Ramaphosa and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres attended the China-Africa forum.
Xi told the auspicious opening ceremony of the Forum, at the Great Hall of the People, that in the next three years, China will work with Africa to take the 10 partnership actions for modernisation to deepen China-Africa cooperation and spearhead the Global South modernisation.
China and Africa account for one-third of the world population, and Xi said without China-Africa modernisation, there will be no global modernisation.
On the partnership action plan for education cooperation, Xi promised that China would provide 60,000 training opportunities to Africa, mainly for women and youths – in vocational education.
Last week, IOL reported that Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, had returned from China where he attended the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum, held in the City of Lianyungang, in Jiangsu province.
The international platform brought together security leaders from around the world to discuss the pressing issues of public safety and security in a global context.
The Ministry of Police said during Mchunu’s working visit to China, he held a significant bilateral meeting with the Chinese Minister of Public Security, Wang Xiaohong.
Mchunu said some of the funding coming to South Africa will be directed towards South Africa’s fight against runaway crime and corruption, reinforcing the country’s commitment to create a safer and more secure environment for all citizens.
“The key takeaway from the forum is that crime is a global issue that transcends borders, and no country, regardless of its crime rate, can tackle it alone. International cooperation between countries and law enforcement agencies, such as Interpol, is essential in fighting transnational crime,” said Mchunu.
IOL NEWS