The Jordanian government and the World Bank on Tuesday (December 12th) signed a financing agreement to fund a $200 million programme to reform the education sector in Jordan, the Jordan Times reported.
The agreement was signed by Minister of Planning and International Co-operation Imad Fakhoury and Hafez Ghanem, vice president of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa, during a ceremony attended by Minister of Education Omar Razzaz and representatives of the main donor countries and organisations in the kingdom.
Fakhoury said the agreement includes $147.7 million to be extended as a concessional loan from the World Bank, blended with a contribution from the Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF) for $52.3 million approved in October by the GCFF Steering Committee.
The funds will be used to expand access to and improve the quality of early childhood education, improve teaching and learning conditions, reform the student assessment system and certification and strengthen the management of the education system, he said.
About 700,000 students are expected to benefit from the programme, with Syrian refugees included in this number. It also will provide training for more than 30,000 teachers.
