EDU-SYRIA 21st Consortium Management Meeting

Amman, Jordan — 9 July 2026

The EDU-SYRIA Program hosted its 21st Consortium Management Meeting on 9 July 2026 at the German Jordanian University (GJU) Jabal Amman Campus, bringing together the EDU-SYRIA management team, a representative of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Jordan, and representatives from project partners, including the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT), Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), Zarqa University (ZU), and Al-Hussein Technical University (HTU), to review program progress and discuss priorities for the next phase of implementation.

The EU Delegation to Jordan was represented by Mr. Adrian Fernandez Dickmanns, Program Officer for Migration and Mobility. JUST was represented by Dr. Hasan Al-Omari, Director of the Department of Graduate Student Affairs, and Prof. Fedda Alzoubi, while DAAD was represented by Ms. Hebatallah Fathy, Regional Director, together with Ms. Zeina Abdo and Ms. Batul Al-Anani. From HTU, Ms. Athba Algailani attended the meeting. 

Opening the meeting, Dr. Dhiah el Diehn Abou-Tair of GJU presented an up-to-date program summary: since its launch, EDU-SYRIA has supported more than 5,000 graduates through €37.6 million in EU investment, with a further €9 million committed. EDU-SYRIA I, II and II-Additional have fully closed, EDU-SYRIA III is nearing closure – with its final active component, the Graduate Studies Scholarship Program, now 85 percent complete. Meanwhile, EDU-SYRIA IV (April 2024–April 2028) is progressing well across its seven program actions, spanning bachelor’s, vocational, graduate and teacher-certificate scholarships alongside bottleneck-alleviation, entrepreneurship-training and high-school summer initiatives delivered with partners.

Partners also shared recent program highlights, including an EDU-SYRIA Iftar gathering at Zarqa University, a visit to GJU by German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a delegation of Syrian university presidents, and an academic gathering and AI workshop for DAAD master’s scholarship students.

Looking ahead, the meeting concluded with a discussion on the transition toward EDU-SYRIA V, with partners noting efforts to diversify funding through Gulf region donors such as the Al Ghurair Foundation and Qatar Foundation, and to keep scholarship offerings aligned with labor market needs in IT, AI, business, and engineering. The meeting closed with open discussion and partner input.

Following the meeting, partners attended the Closure Ceremony of the High School Summer Program (HSSP), marking the successful completion of this year’s summer camp for 35 Syrian refugee students from Zaatari Refugee Camp. The summer camp program introduced high school students to university life through a range of academic, cultural, and experiential learning activities, encouraging them to pursue higher education. The ceremony concluded with a networking lunch.