EU earmarks €15 m for supporting higher education in Jordan

07 / 05 / 2020

By Jordanian News Agency Petra - -

The European Union (EU) approved a grant agreement of €15 million to support higher education in Jordan through offering fully-funded scholarships for 2245 vulnerable Jordanians and Syrian refugees.

Under the agreement, signed on Thursday by EU Ambassador to Jordan Maria Hadjitheodosiou and President of the German Jordanian University Manar Fayyad, the EU-funded project “Support to Higher Education for Syrian Refugees and Vulnerable Jordanian Youths-EDU-SYRIA III” will give young students the opportunity to pursue higher education (bachelor and master levels), vocational education, technical training, training qualified teachers, special entrepreneurial training, labor market oriented courses as well as summer programs for high school students.

“The project will extend for a period of four years with the aim to increase the capacity of Jordan’s higher education institutions as well as foster social cohesion and dialogue between Syrian refugees and Jordanian host communities” the Ambassador said.

Reiterating the European Union’s commitment to continue supporting Jordanian efforts to deal with the impact of Syrian refugees in the country, the envoy added this grant will give both Syrian refugees and disadvantaged youth in Jordan the opportunity to pursue an education which will enhance their opportunities for securing jobs and stable livelihoods.

“We hope that this project will enable these wonderfully talented and well-educated youth to have the opportunity to deliver on Jordan’s high potential and contribute to a bright future for all”, she added.

The EDU-SYRIA III project is a consortium of 9 local and international partners: The German Jordanian University (consortium leader), DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), Nuffic (The Dutch Organisation for Internationalisation in Education), Queen Rania Teacher Academy, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Yarmouk University, Mutah University, Zarqa University and Luminus Technical University College. The project also cooperates with Jordanian aid funds: National Aid Fund, Tkiyet Um Ali, Al-Aman Fund, and Zakat Fund.