NANTONG: Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Tjekero Tweya has called on Namibian students at Nantong University in China to study hard, and to be prepared to work towards the country’s economic development once they graduate.
Tweya said this when he held a brief meeting with 17 Namibian students who are currently pursuing their five-year studies in the field of clinical medicine at the Chinese university.
The students’ studies are sponsored by the China Loving Heart Organisation in Namibia.
Before meeting the students, Tweya held consultations with the university’s management, where the institution’s president Yuan Yinnan briefed him about the students’ behaviour, and the level of their commitment towards education.
Yuan told the deputy minister that he is impressed that all the Namibian students are hardworking and committed to their studies. He said the students are also well-behaved, and they show great respect for their teachers.
Addressing the students, Tweya said he was pleased to hear that five Namibians are among the students who have been ranked as top performers academically out of the more than 30 000 students registered at the university.
The deputy minister said education and health are the main priority areas of the Namibian government, hence the reason why these two sectors receive the largest chunk of the national budgetary allocation.
“We value the education in China, and I want to urge you all to come back home and help our people in the rural areas,” he noted.
Speaking on behalf of the students, final-year student Emilia Mutongolume thanked the deputy minister for the visit, saying the gesture showed that the government cares about them.
Mutongolume said they are aware that Namibia relies on foreign medical doctors and nurses because of a lack of qualified local medical personnel, and promised that the students at Nantong University in China will go back home to contribute to the economic development of their country.
“We will make sure that we will come back to take over those places,” she stressed.
Adelinu Celestinus, a second-year student, also expressed happiness about the deputy minister’s visit, saying this visit will encourage them to study even harder.
Celestinus said adapting to the Chinese culture was not a problem at all, as most Chinese people are always friendly and willing to assist and socialise.
Third-year student Lavinia Johannes said what she appreciates most from the Chinese people is their willingness to teach foreigners basic Mandarin (the official national spoken language in China) in order to ease communication difficulties.