The Chinese government has provided scholarships for 20 Somali students this year to enable them to further their education, officials said on Sept 10.

Somali Minister of Education Khadro Bashir told Xinhua that the ministry selected the beneficiaries from all regions in the country, and thanked China for providing the support in the educational field.

“We are very pleased to get this support from the Chinese government, and we hope that China will help us in other areas in the near future,” she said.

Bashir said this also contributes to strengthening the cultural relationship between the two countries, and hopes China could send experts on education to Somalia in order to get benefit from their experience in the area.

“Relations between the two countries have always been strong, and we want to see these relationships develop day by day, including cultural relationship,” she added.

Education sector in Somalia has witnessed a collapse after the fall of the central system in the country in 1991, but began to improve thanks to the efforts of some countries like China which has supported Somalia in many areas.

In June this year, the Chinese Embassy in Somalia donated education facilities and furniture to an orphanage in Mogadishu.