The International Students Day was celebrated at the Indian Embassy in Addis Ababa on Tuesday. The day is observed every year in memory of the work of the first education minister of India and founder president of the Indian Council for Culture Relations (ICCR), Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

The Ethiopian Minister of Education, Wro Genet Zewde, and the Indian Ambassador, Mrs Jordana Pavel, was at the ceremony together with lecturers, professors, teachers and students.

According to Genet Zewde, the number of Indian professors and lecturers have increased during the last years in the Defense Engineering College, Debre Zeit, the Addis Ababa University, the Civil Service College, among others. She also said that there has been a major difference in that the Ethiopian teachers have become almost self-sufficient in high schools and secondary schools and the Indian teachers are providing education in higher institutions. "We expect them [the institutions] to make good use of their knowledge and experience for the development of our country," Genet Zewde said.

India and Ethiopia enjoyed strong cooperations in various fields since the late fifties/early sixties. The first Ethiopian surgeon, Dr. Workneh, was educated in India and after his return to Ethiopia he became the personal physician of Emperor Haile-Selassie.

During the last ten years, the Indian Government has been establishing a number of educational institutions. The country has the third largest technically trained manpower, and boasts the second largest number of software professionals. "We have a lot to learn from India's experience," Genet Zewde said.

Today more than 3000 Ethiopian students are studying in India on a self-financing basis. In 1997 an agreement was signed by the two governments for India to accept 500 post-graduate students every year. The program is financed by the Ethiopian Government. The Indian Government also provides 20 scholarships every year for Ethiopian students to study in India. "Education is the most powerful instrument of social transformation and economic progress", Jordana Pavel said on the occasion.