‘US to build 25 new schools in Jordan using $100m’

AMMAN — Washington announced plans on Sunday to build 25 new public schools in Jordan with $100 million in US assistance through USAID.

The plans are in line with the “Let Girls Learn” US government initiative launched earlier this year by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, according to a White House statement released by the US embassy in Amman.

The initiative addresses “the range of challenges preventing adolescent girls from attending and completing school and realising their potential as adults”, the statement said.

To that end, 70 per cent of the projected schools in Jordan will be for girls.

“Many students in Jordan currently learn in overcrowded classrooms and schools, and efforts to accommodate Syrian refugees [have] made the situation more acute. Many of these new schools will be constructed in urban areas with overcrowded schools, helping to alleviate pressures on Jordan’s education system,” the statement said. 

The schools are projected to accommodate 25,000 students each year.

Since 2006, USAID’s Jordan School Construction and Rehabilitation Project has put $199 million towards the construction of 28 new schools and the renovation or expansion of an additional 97 schools, according to the statement. 

“Today’s announcement underscores the work Jordan and the United States are collaborating on to further girls’ education initiatives... The United States commends Jordan for its efforts to ensure equitable access to education and give Jordanian and Syrian young women the tools they need for a better future,” the statement said.