Hon. Etmonia D. Tarpeh, Minister of Education,

Prof.Dr. Hassana Alidou, Director, UNESCO Abuja Regional Office,

Distinguished guests,

I am very glad to attend, on behalf of Ambassador Zhang Yue, the Launch of the UNESCO-China Funds-in-Trust Project on “Enhancing Teacher Education For Bridging the Education Quality Gap in Africa” in Liberia.

To begin with, I want to congratulate the Ministry of Education of Liberia for the successful launch of this very important project after some delays, which is understandable due to the campaign against Ebola since last year. And I also want to comment on the hard work done by UNESCO Abuja Regional Office staff and the relevant Liberian government agencies and institutions.

The launching of this project is of extraordinary significance to Liberia now. It is not only a sign that Liberia is going back on normal track, but also because education is equally important as public health to the long-term development of Liberia.

The Chinese people firmly believe that knowledge can change a man’s fate. And so comes a very popular slogan “no matter how poor you are, do save money on education”.

The qualification of teachers is the key to the improvement of education quality. The advancement of information communication technology (ICT) provides a more efficient and convenient way of training teachers compared with the traditional training methods. And this is why the Chinese Government donated 8 million US Dollars to UNESCO to launch this project on 22 November 2012, aiming to enhance teacher education and professional development in 8 African countries, among which Liberia gets 700 thousands US Dollars.

China is willing to cooperate with other countries and international institutions to do more good to the welfare of the world. This project is a trilateral cooperation and marks the beginning of a new partnership between UNESCO, China and the chosen 8 African countries. In fighting against Ebola, China also joint hands with WFP by providing 6 million US Dollars to buy food for people of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. We hope that more and more international partners can initiate similar programs in helping African countries.

China has been attaching great importance to bilateral cooperation in education with Liberia. China grants various scholarships and training opportunities in China to Liberian nationals. By 2014, China has already provided 187 Chinese Government Scholarships, and in 2015, we will provide 19 such Scholarships. China also provides about 200 short-term training program opportunities to Liberia each year and has trained more than 2000 Liberians up to now.

Chinese Embassy and Chinese enterprises in Liberia also made great efforts in this field. Chinese Embassy launched the Chinese Ambassador Scholarship in 2011 and provides 91 scholarships each year to students in 3 universities including the University of Liberia. 8 Chinese enterprises launched Chinese Enterprise Scholarship in 2012 and provide more than 200 scholarships to 9 Liberian Universities and Monrovia Vocational Training Center.

China also provides education infrastructure to Liberia. For example, China built the Fendell Campus and three laboratories for the University of Liberia, extended a state-of-art vocational training center, MVTC, with a total cost of 10million US Dollars, and constructed 3 primary schools in Monrovia and Bomi county, etc. The Chinese military medical teams operating the China ETU at SKD, also have trained several hundreds of students and teachers with the necessary knowledge, skills, and provided many materials for epidemic control and prevention to several schools.

In China, teachers are deemed as “architect of human soul”, and many people also prefer to nickname teachers as “gardeners” because we believe all the students are like flowers who are the key to make the country more beautiful and prosperous. I am sure that with more and more Liberian “gardeners ” benefiting from this trilateral project, Liberia will have a more solid foundation for education and also national development. China will continue to be a reliable and firm supporter to Liberia.

Thank you!