World Bank approves 200 mln USD project to improve Jordan's education

AMMAN, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank on Wednesday approved a 200 million U.S. dollar project to help Jordan improve education for Jordanian and Syrian refugee children.

The Education Reform Support Program was approved by the World Bank Group's Board of Directors.

The project will benefit approximately 700,000 Jordanian and Syrian refugee children and also help train more than 30,000 teachers across the Kingdom, according to a statement issued by the World Bank.

Over the last two decades, Jordan has made progress in terms of school access and enrollment rates.

The primary gross enrollment ratio increased from 71 percent in 1994 to 99 percent in 2010, and the transition rate to secondary school increased from 63 percent to 98 percent over the same period. Nevertheless, challenges remain on certain fronts.

The situations are further exacerbated by the influx of Syrian refugees. The expansion of education access to Syrian refugee children has stretched resources thin and constrained the ability to improve the quality of education, the statement indicated.

"The Education Reform Support Program is well aligned with the government's National Strategy for Human Resource Development (2016-2025)," said Karine Pezzani, World Bank Senior Operations Officer and Co-Task Team Leader. Enditem