Study Opportunities Grow Uganda benefits from Chinese scholarships in science and technology
Jane Namu shed tears of joy as she bid her family members farewell at Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport, before flying off to China to start an exciting new chapter in her life. “I promise that I will not fail my family and the governments of Uganda and China. I will study hard and always be among the best students,” she vowed to herself as she boarded the plane.
Namu is one of the hundreds of students who were granted science and technology scholarships by the Chinese Government in the past few months. Apart from the more than 500 students who have been offered scholarships in short artisan courses this year, 111 students have been offered scholarships to Chinese universities and 30 to a local university. Thirty of the scholarships were given to women. China also assists industrial skills training and production centers in the country, which, according to insiders, will foster the introduction of manufacturing methods and practices into the country.
Promoting science and technology
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has hailed China for helping Uganda by offering scholarships in science and technology studies to Ugandan students. While officiating at the opening of factories started up by Chinese investors in Uganda recently, Museveni said, “It is only science that can lead us to development. I am happy to note that China is training some of our students in science and technology.”
On August 28 this year, 111 Ugandan students who had just been granted scholarships to study for bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and PH.D. degree in Chinese universities were sent off at a ceremony held in Kampala.
Guests of honor at the ceremony, held at the Chinese Embassy in Kampala, included State Minister for Primary Education Rosemary Seninde and Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Zheng Zhuqiang.
Zheng said he appreciated Uganda’s efforts to educate the youth in addition to the country’s good relationship with China.
“I am happy to see that many Ugandan students are going to study in China. Because of your country’s continued efforts to promote education cooperation between China and Uganda, more and more young students are being exposed to opportunities,” said Zheng.
He said that in June this year, Ugandan President Museveni and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in China and agreed to elevate the China-uganda relationship to a new level of comprehensive cooperative partnership. After fruitful talks, they signed a number of bilateral cooperation agreements, said Zheng.
Uganda’s First Lady and Cabinet Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni urged the students who got Chinese scholarships to always take their studies seriously while in China. She said, “The country is in a process of promoting
I am happy to see that many Ugandan students are going to study in China. Because of your country’s continued efforts to promote education cooperation between China and Uganda, more and more young students are being exposed to opportunities. ZHENG ZHUQIANG Chinese Ambassador to Uganda
science in schools and institutions of higher learning. The scholarships granted to us by China [in these fields] go a long way in helping Uganda move toward socio-economic transformation.”
She added that scholarships in the disciplines of agriculture, medical engineering and information and communication technology, which are offered by China, are very important for developing Uganda.
Ugandan State Minister for Foreign Affairs Okello Oryem told students he expected them to excel in their studies. One of the students, PH.D. scholarship recipient Wilford Arigye said he was happy to have the opportunity to study in China and appreciated what it meant to him and his country.
Education key to development
Apart from those going to China, another 30 students were awarded scholarships on September 5 by the Chinese Embassy in Uganda at a ceremony held at Makerere University - the leading institution of higher education in the country.
At the award ceremony, Ambassador Zheng said China will continue to support Uganda’s education sector so that more students get study opportunities.
“Education is the key to development. It is for this reason that I want us to work together so that we build the future, a better future for Uganda and a future shared by a closer community between China and Uganda. United, our two countries could jointly build an even closer community with a shared future,” said Zheng.
Aggrey Kibenge, Under Secretary at Ugandan Ministry of Education and Sports, said the scholarships are critical in helping build critical human capital needed to nurture growth and productivity.
For his part, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, said that unlike some developed countries, China is a country that does not want to develop alone.
“China believes in community development. They are giving us scholarships without strings attached,” he said.
Nawangwe said that most of the students who have been given the scholarships are from low-income families and were likely to drop out of the university due to lack of tuition fees, were it not for the scholarships.
According to Seninde, the cost of each student to stay at a Chinese university for three to four years, which includes airfare, tuition, accommodation and out of pocket expenses, is over $20,000.
There are many positive stories about those who have studied in China. One of those is Jackson Okello, who graduated in engineering from a Chinese university, where he went on a scholarship some years ago. He said he has made good use of the engineering knowledge which he acquired there.
“If it was not for China’s generosity, I would not be an engineer,” said Okello, now one of Uganda’s most eminent civil engineers.
Okello said that because of the increasing number of Ugandan students in China, they have formed two organizations called the China Alumni Association in Uganda and the Uganda Students Association in China to network and share.
While all those who go to study in China are offered jobs in Chinese companies back home where available, returnees are free to seek employment in non-chinese companies with no predetermined obligation.
President of the China Alumni Association in Uganda Alfred Omo advised Ugandan students who go to study in China to learn Chinese so that they can adapt better in the Chinese community.
Meanwhile, President of the Uganda Students Association in China Timothy Mukisa said that they do all they can to help the Ugandan students in China adapt to their new environment. “With my team, we help the students settle in comfortably in China,” said Mukisa.
Education official Andrew Ochan said the Chinese Government has been providing scholarships to Ugandan students since the 1980s, and recently the number rose to several hundred per year.
“From the 1980s to 2014, a few dozen [students] were admitted to Chinese universities through scholarships; but recently the number rose tremendously. Over 25,000 Ugandans have studied in China since the 1960s,” said Ochan. CA