The total cost of hosting 130,000 Syrian students at Jordanian public schools stands at about JD150 million every year while international aid falls short of this figure, Minister of Education Mohammad Thnaibat said Monday.
The massive number of Syrian students puts major strains on public schools' infrastructure and many schools now open night-and-day shifts to accommodate such a large number, the minister added. He was accompanying European Union Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Commissioner, Stefan Fule, during a visit to a central Amman public school.
The EU official reiterated the bloc's commitment to providing further support to Jordan in the coming years, noting that the European Union is the largest donor to Jordan and will continue to stand by the Kingdom during these difficult times.
He made it clear that international aid to Jordan does not meet the growing needs of the refugees in light of the increasing numbers and the Syrian crisis that continues unabated.
UNICEF Representative in Jordan Robert Jenkins said the European Union has offered about 100 million euros for the education sector in Jordan since 2012, to support Syrian refugees' access to public schools, train teachers, empower host communities of refugees and back up tutoring and university education.