Deal to establish Sino-Jordanian university in the pipeline — spokesperson

AMMAN — An agreement to establish a Sino-Jordanian university in the Kingdom is expected to be signed soon, according to an official.

The agreement will be signed during an official visit to Beijing to embark on establishing the technical university, Hani Dmour, secretary general of the Ministry of Higher Education, told The Jordan Times over the phone, without disclosing the date of the visit.

The Cabinet on Tuesday decided to allocate 1,000 dunums in Jiza for the purpose of building the university. A total of 500 dunums will be allocated for the university and the same for a scientific incubator.

The preliminary memorandum of understanding to establish the university was signed in January this year. 

The projected university will comprise three faculties that offer 15 majors, in addition to two specialised centres for research, language teaching and diploma programmes. 

Establishing the university is part of a plan to reform higher education in the Kingdom and direct more students towards technical studies, according to officials.

Dmour said 90 per cent of school graduates join universities, while only 10 per cent opt for technical and vocational programmes.

In a statement sent to The Jordan Times on Wednesday, he noted that 300,000 students currently study at Jordanian universities and this number is expected to reach 450,000 in 2025.

At present, the Civil Service Bureau has 300,000 applications for public sector jobs, with 76 per cent submitted by holders of bachelor’s degrees. 

The education of this number of “unemployed” Jordanians cost their families around JD3 billion, according to Dmour, who added that most of the subjects they studied are not in demand in the job market.

Thus, the higher education reform plan mostly focuses on improving technical education and encouraging students to join it rather than academic education.

The ministry has also decided to financially and administratively “separate” community colleges affiliated with Balqa Applied University to further develop technical programmes they offer to students.

Dmour noted the ministry has allocated 2,000 scholarships annually for students who want to study technical programmes in community colleges.

The ministry has also come up with plans to increase the ratio of those who enrol in technical programmes from 10 per cent of total school graduates to 25 per cent within five years.