Amman- 9 November 2021
EDU-SYRIA/EDU-JORDAN Program, funded by the European Union though the Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, “Madad”, and managed by the German Jordanian University, launched today nine projects to improve the livelihood options of vulnerable Jordanian and Syrian refugees and youths. The projects will provide the beneficiaries with access to higher and vocational education and improve their employability opportunities.
These nine project are funded through the following components: the “Bottlenecks” Alleviation Program and the Entrepreneurship Training Scholarship Program.
The “Bottlenecks” Alleviation Program (BAP) is implemented by Nuffic and its main objective is to alleviate three critical transition points; transition from high school to higher education, successfully completing higher education degree programs, and finally, transition from higher education to the labor market.
Nuffic has selected five projects so far for the BAP program to be implemented; “Career Acceleration Project for Creative Designers” by the American Center of Research (Acor), “Youth Resilience Skills and Tools to Survive 2021 Labor Market” by Al Aman Fund for the Future of Orphans (AAF), “Training on Solar PV Module Cleaning and Site Housekeeping” by EDAMA Association, “Pathfinder - Professional & Post-secondary Education” by The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), and “Digital Empowerment and Entrepreneurship for Refugees (DEER)” by Specto software development.
The Entrepreneurship Training Scholarship Program (ETSP) is implemented by Luminus Shamal Start Business Accelerator and aims to enable groups of young Jordanian and Syrian entrepreneurs to create sustainable businesses and to turn their ideas into startups. It achieves this by providing training on necessary competencies and skills to start and run an enterprise, office space, legal and technical support, mentorship, networking, and access to potential investors. Four entrepreneurial teams have been chosen so far: “Dion for cosmetics”, “Retal perfumes”, “Woodchuckers” for Wooden products, and “Fayhaa Arts” for interior design.
The President of GJU, Prof. Ala’aldeen Al-Halhouli, pointed out the importance of the Syrian-Jordanian education program and its role in building the capabilities and skills of young people in less fortunate societies. He indicated that it is a project that aligns with the university’s strategic plan to be a pioneering university and a university of applied sciences and a pioneer in education, research, innovation, and leadership. It is in line with the strategic pillars of the university in building partnerships and supporting community participation.
Al-Halhouli pointed out that the university recently established a Deanship of Innovation, Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship to enable and disseminate the concepts of leadership and innovation in the university and the entire community, expressing his thanks to the European Union, the Dutch Organization for Internationalisation in Education (Nuffic), and North START for their support of projects that serve the community.
The EDU-SYRIA / EDU-JORDAN programme manager, Dr. Dhiah Abou Tair said that the programme has provided so far 2922 higher education scholarships, and is planning to enroll 825 beneficiaries
for “Bottlenecks” Alleviation Program-BAP, 160 beneficiaries for Entrepreneurship Training Scholarship Program -ETSP, and 250 beneficiaries for Six-Month Labor Market Oriented Course Scholarship Program-LMP.
The EU representative, Dr. Anna Schmidt, stated “The EU is proud to support a programme that is not only supportive of innovation but innovative in its own design, as the only locally-led EU funded project in Jordan. Only 3% of refugees worldwide have access to higher education. With this programme we invest in learning but also employability and entrepreneurship. We are trying to build a community of learners that will not only financial support but also inspire the next generation of Syrians but also Jordanians. In education, we don’t necessarily always know the end result, but we start a change process. As Amer Hijazi, one of the grantees said: This scholarship is not only for one individual. Receiving a higher education degree inspires that person’s sibling, children and creates the same desire for education in the next generation”.
It is worth mentioning that the Euro 32.6 million-EDU-SYRIA / EDU-JORDAN scholarship program, which is fund by EU’s ‘Madad Fund’, aims to provide more than 3000 scholarships for Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians who are beneficiaries of the local aid funds. These scholarships help the beneficiaries to pursue higher education (bachelor’s or masters), vocational education, technical training, or professional diploma in teaching. The project also provides training on entrepreneurship support and labor market preparatory courses.
EDU-SYRIA / EDU-JORDAN Program is a consortium of 9 local and international partners: the German Jordanian University (consortium leader), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Dutch Organization for Internationalisation in Education (Nuffic), the Queen Rania Teacher Academy, the Jordan University of Science and Technology, Yarmouk University, Mutah University, Zarqa University and Luminus Technical University College. The consortium also cooperates with four local aid funds: the National Aid Fund, Al-Aman Fund, Zakat Fund and Tkiyet Um Ali.
