100 scholarships to be awarded to students of Sharia faculties

AMMAN — The Ministry of Higher Education on Tuesday announced the allocation of 100 scholarships available for students accepted in Sharia (Islamic law) faculties at all official Jordanian universities through the unified admissions programme. 

The scholarships, which are to be granted through the ministry’s student support fund, will cover the full tuition of the beneficiaries over the course of four academic years, as long as the student’s cumulative GPA stays above 60 per cent, Higher Education Minister Adel Tweisi told The Jordan Times. 

Regarding the requirements for the scholarship, the minister said that all first-year students accepted into Sharia programmes with a General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) who score over 80 per cent who will be eligible for the scholarship. 

“These scholarships come as part of the actions undertaken by the Higher Education Council within the government’s strategy to counter extremism,” Tweisi explained, noting that “the goal is to improve the student input in Sharia programmes at Jordanian universities by encouraging students with high grades to choose such majors”.

For his part, Higher Education Ministry Spokesperson Mahmoud Khalayleh stressed the importance of Sharia degrees, highlighting “the impact that they have on the way in which the Jordanian society is built, and in directing its members towards the interests of the nation”. 

The newly announced scholarships will be published along with the rest of the grants, scholarships and loans offered by the ministry in the academic year of 2018-2019, according to Khalayleh.