The Closing Ceremony of EDU-SYRIA II Project

Under the patronage of the European Union ambassador to Jordan her excellency Maria Hadjitheodosiou, EDU-SYRIA / EDU-JORDAN program held the closing ceremony of the second project of the program, which is funded by the European Union through the European Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis (Madad Fund), and managed by the German Jordanian University.

During the ceremony, H.E. noted that education has been a priority sector of support for the EU in Jordan for more than a decade through programs such as EDU-SYRIA / EDU-JORDAN program that has become a well-known and respected brand and its scholarships are in high demand, because it is essential to the development of a country and its people, especially after the Syrian refugee crisis.

Her Excellency added about EDU-SYRIA / EDU-JORDAN program: “We are very proud of our longstanding and fruitful collaboration with the EDU-Syria consortium. Under the EU Syria response in Jordan, this is the only consortium led by a local partner, the German Jordanian University. All members of the consortium demonstrated a very high degree of enthusiasm and commitment for the project and I would like to applaud them for this today.”

Her Excellency also congratulated the 952 graduates of the EDU-SYRIA II project, expressing her pride in young people who are pursuing their dreams even if they have been dealt a bad set of cards, stressing that the evaluations and monitoring missions of EDU-SYRIA II have shown that it had a transformative effect on the development of their work and life skills and increasing employment opportunities.

In conclusion, Her Excellency emphasized the continuity of EU support to Jordan as a host country, and that Investing in people remains a key priority for the EU in Jordan in the framework of the regional Syria response, despite the end of the Madad Trust Fund.

The President of the German Jordanian University, Prof. Ala’aldeen Al-Halhouli, highlighted that the university had previously completed a number of humanitarian projects within the framework of community service, yet the most important and largest of these projects is the EDU-SYRIA / EDU-JORDAN program, that is distinguished with the unique partnership between educational institutions from the public and private sectors, in addition to the competencies working in the program from the University staff. Professor Al-Halhouli also pointed out the university’s continuous endeavor to support the community by establishing the Deanship of Innovation and Creativity and the plan to establish a the humanitarian projects cluster. Professor Al-Halhouli valued the European Union’s support for the various university projects.

The manager of EDU-SYRIA / EDU-JORDAN program, Dr. Dhiah Abu Tair stressed the importance of the EDU-SYRIA II project, which started in 2016 and was funded with €11 million, to provide 1,000 higher education scholarships to Syrian refugees and Jordanian in refugee-hosting communities. He also stated that the program’s work was not limited to selecting eligible students and providing scholarships, but also, over the years, it has monitored the students’ academic performance and conducted a number of training and qualification courses to empower them with various skills.

The ceremony, which was attended by representatives of partner institutes, included a video presentation about the message of EDU-SYRIA II project, and a musical performance by a group of project students. During the ceremony, a number of project’s graduates spoke about the impact of the scholarship on their lives. The Ambassador also honored the students who achieved excellent academic performance.

EDU-SYRIA / EDU-JORDAN Programme 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 includes four local aid funds: the National Aid Fund, Al-Aman Fund, Zakat Fund and Tkiyet Um Ali.