Parties sign the contract of the cooperative project. [CRI]

China and Ethiopia will join together in early 2009 to establish a vocational school for Ethiopians, the two ministries of education said Wednesday.

Zhang Xinsheng, China's vice minister of education, said the school would enroll 330 students in the first term. It will offer courses including engineering, electrics, electronics, automobile, computer, textile and apparel.

Twelve teachers from the Tianjin University of Technology and Education had been dispatched to Ethiopia for teaching preparations, Zhang said.

As the largest China-foreign joint school to date, construction of the 114,000-square-meter building was financially supported by China's Ministry of Commerce and completed in October of 2007.

Wondwossen Kiflu, Ethiopian education minister, said that he hoped the school would inspire more such cooperation between the two nations. He also noted that the school would set up Chinese language courses.

The joint school, which plans to enroll 3,000 students on campus in the near future, would add teaching subjects such as architecture, bridge and road construction, and cartography to cater to Ethiopia's needs, said Zhang.

(Xinhua News Agency December 24, 2008)