The Education ministry in South Sudan’s Yei River State has announced scholarship opportunities for the youth to participate in training programs on skills development in India.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday, the state Education minister, Peter Butili Farajallah said 100 youth aged 25 to 45 years in both government and private sectors will benefit from the program.

He said the short professional courses will take between 1-6 months.

“The condition is that the applicant must be a South Sudanese from Yei because Yei has not been benefiting from any of these external training programs. We need youth with English backgrounds and people with work experiences in various fields,” Butili said.

He added, “The applicants should have a productive age of at least 25-45 years. We also need people who are medically fit”.

He pointed out that the Indian government will meet all costs of the successful applicants, while the ministry will process the applications and handover the names of the applicants to the Indian embassy in Juba.

“The interesting thing in this training course is that the Indian government will cater for all costs, including visa processing, feeding, stipends, medication and accommodation. We will ensure that the applications are delivered to the Indian embassy timely,” Butili said.

The youth, in the recent past, accused some officials in the state government of diverting scholarships to relatives and other states.

They claimed they lacked training and scholarship opportunities.

Butili, however, advised the youth in Yei River State to remain focused, saying his ministry is working day and night to empower them technically and theoretically.