King Support Madrasati initiative

The Madrasati launch attracts major corporations, community organisations and representatives eager to assist some 100 schools in desperate need of repair (Petra photo)


AMMAN - (JT) His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday offered JD3 million in support of Madrasati, a bold initiative that partners the public and private sector for the restoration of neglected public schools.

Under the leadership of Her Majesty Queen Rania, Madrasati was launched on Tuesday at an exhibition that brought together major corporations, community organisations and representatives from 100 schools in desperate need of repair.

The long-term plan seeks to rehabilitate at least 500 schools and should directly benefit some 165,000 students in the next five years.

It is the latest in a series of projects led by the Queen to restore and equip the Kingdom’s schools to create more inspiring learning environments.

The Monarch’s support is in line with several initiatives over the past few years which include the construction of new schools, winter coats for children and heating to upgrade the education sector.

Other leading contributors include Abraj, Mawared, Saraya Al Qabidah, Zain, and individuals including the Bouchmaoui family and Saeed Darwazeh, all of whom Her Majesty expressed appreciation to at the launch.

A list of supporters and funding figures should be announced at a later date, according to organisers.

Meanwhile, at Tuesday’s launch, which was designed to encourage the private sector to foster their own communities at the grassroots level, students and teachers displayed photos and urged donors to support their cause.

Some students at the event told The Jordan Times their schools resembled prison facilities with metal mesh boards covering broken windows, concrete play areas with towering walls and locked science labs with no equipment.

Mohammad, a ninth grader from a school in Hay Nazal, said he loves chemistry and physics but does not expect to benefit much from his school days.

“We don’t even visit our lab because of broken equipment. How am I to absorb what I read in books if I can’t experiment?” he asked.

He described his computer class as a race for seats, with 5-6 boys jockeying for the use of one computer, knowing they may not get their turn before the bell rings.

Lama, a nine-year-old student attending a school in Qwaismeh, hopes next winter her school will have kerosene to power their new heaters that sat unused this year.

The national scheme will require the cooperation of the public and private sectors, civil society and academic sectors and already incorporates 12 main partners including the Ministry of Education, the Jordan River Foundation and the Greater Amman Municipality.

Organisations and individuals interested in building a better future for Jordan by enhancing children’s learning environments can join.

For more information on the initiative, visit: http://www.Madrasati.jo or call 0800 22 866.

Queen launches initiative to renovate public schools

The ambitious ‘Madrasati’ (my school) initiative, spearheaded by Her Majesty Queen Rania, is designed to make education a social responsibility for the entire community (Petra photo)





AMMAN (JT)- Major corporations in the Kingdom have thrown their full weight behind a bold initiative launched yesterday to persuade the private sector to take ownership of their communities and foster the future workforce by upgrading ailing learning environments.

The ambitious “Madrasati” (my school) initiative is designed to make education a social responsibility by pairing corporations and NGOs with 500 schools in the Kingdom which are in desperate need of repair.

Over the next five years, around 165,000 students will benefit directly from this plan, according to organisers.


Her Majesty Queen Rania, who heads the initiative, launched the project yesterday at a gathering of supportive donors and representatives from 100 schools.

Madrasati is the latest in a series of projects led by the Queen for the advancement of the Kingdom’s educational institutions by restoring and equipping schools to create more inspiring learning environments.

“Today our schools have become a social responsibility. It is the responsibility of every active citizen and every organisation working to improve the standard of living in Jordan, and every company - private or public - that wants a hand shaping the future of our youth,” Queen Rania said in her address at the launch.

The national scheme requires cooperation between the public, private and civil society, and academic sectors and already incorporates 12 main partners including the Ministry of Education, the Jordan River Foundation and the Greater Amman Municipality.

At a recent event at the University of Jordan, Her Majesty expressed core reasons why Jordanians should be involved at the grassroots level to build a better future and hold each individual accountable in the process.

“Building our future is a social responsibility that excludes nobody. It is your responsibility and my responsibility. It is ‘and’ and not ‘or’. It is the responsibility of every Jordanian so that none of us finds himself in a path that has already been set for him. If you - the educated, the graduates, the politicians - do not participate in improving society, who will? If we do not move now, then when will we?” she said.

Madrasati targets any corporation or individual that can contribute to the effort through funding, in-kind donations, employee time or programmes to improve student learning.

With over 1.6 million schoolage children in Jordan, Madrasati also focuses on private schools that can be involved in “twinning” projects and offer resources, experience and time to public schools while teaching progressive values to their students.

Meanwhile, students from the almost 15 per cent of the Kingdom’s 3,257 public schools that are considered “badly inhabited”, headed booths armed with computer images of the dilapidated premises caused by years of neglect.

Shocking images of the ill-equipped schools included a library with two shoddy closets and no librarian, exposed electric wires, three students to a desk and “out of order” bathrooms.

One of the images depicted a school’s main doors, which are permanently locked because if opened, they would cause the surrounding concrete to collapse.

Corporate heavyweights already onboard, such as Zain and Aramex, were quick to show their support. As companies which already manage corporate responsibility programmes, they stressed that community involvement goes far beyond signing a cheque.

“It is not only a matter of funding; if we were to adopt 50 schools, each would have a designated employee to be directly involved in the long- term process,” Suzanne Afaneh, corporate communications director of Zain, told The Jordan Times.

Zain, which has already committed JD500,000 towards the initiative, considers this a “continuation of sustainable efforts and continual awareness for other corporations that there is always a way to make a difference”, according to Zain CEO Saad Nasir.

Founder and CEO of Aramex, Fadi Ghandour told The Jordan Times that public-private partnerships are at the core of his company’s philosophy, noting society must be influenced into seeing what these partnerships can accomplish.

Other main partners include the Jordan Education Initiative, the Royal Health Awareness Society, the Jordan Education Society, the Children’s Museum, the Queen Rania Award for Excellence in Education, UNICEF, INJAZ and Ruwwad.

Madrasati’s website was also officially launched Tuesday.

For more information on the initiative, visit: http://www.Madrasati.jo or call 0800 22 8 66.

Specialised renovation school in ALSALT

SALT (Petra) - The Balqa branch of the Jordan Engineers Association is planning to establish a specialised school on renovating old buildings in the city of Salt. Khalid Khoshman yesterday said the idea corresponds with His Majesty King Abdulla’s concern over the development of downtown Salt which includes over 400 old houses and buildings, adding that the planned school will be located in one the city’s old structures.

Mafraq schools without water supply

Another incident about schools without proper healthy environment for education.

MAFRAQ (Petra) - A total of 35 schools in the central district of Mafraq have had no water supply for a month after their water gauges exploded during a frost spell, according to Ahmad Mathani, director of the Mafraq Education Department, who called for a solution. Bassem Omoush, director of the Mafraq Water Department, said the department will start installing new water meters early next week. The schools have been supplied with water through tankers in the meantime.


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Another classroom Collapse

An advice to our students: "Instead of paying attension to your teacher you need to watch out the ceiling so it might collpase on your head."

This is the second time Amman Voice post a classroom ceiling collapse in Jordan. Many public schools need major renovations especially the rented old rusted buildings. A survey need to be made for the existing conditions of the public schools in Jordan and create a plan for renovating or evacuating those buildings.

Moreover, we need to create new codes for school building types and insure it's sustainability so our kids can get the best education in the best healthy environment.

Students evacuated after classroom roof collapse

MAFRAQ (Petra) - Authorities on Wednesday evacuated 250 students from the Abdullah Ben Rawaha Elementary School after the roof of one classroom partially collapsed. Ahmad Mathani, an education official in the governorate, said the evacuation decision was taken to ensure the safety of students. He said the rented building was old and maintenance work conducted on it did not address the problems entirely.

Type rest of the post here