86-year-old UNRWA school facing closure for 'safety reasons'

AMMAN — An 86-year old UNRWA school in Amman will soon be closed for reasons that "have nothing to do with the budget cuts", according to a source from the UN agency.

Built in 1928, the     UNRWA-run Jabal Amman Prep. Co-ed School will be closed down "merely due to technical issues related to the physical shape of the building", said Anwar Abu Sakieneh, UNRWA-Jordan spokesperson and public information officer.

"The decision was made for safety reasons and after several technical inspections. It is an old-new issue that we have been trying to address for over seven years now," she told The Jordan Times over the phone on Sunday, denying news reports that linked the move to the agency's attempts to reduce services provided to refugees.

Extensive discussions were held with senior staff in the Jordan field office and headquarters as well as the local community in Jabal Amman, according to an UNRWA statement.

"Director of UNRWA Operations Roger Davies has conducted many meetings with area staff, the school education staff and parents to explain to them the reasons that forced UNRWA to come to such a decision," the statement said.

The school building has been utilised by   UNRWA since 1967.

Based on a "neutral non-UNRWA" engineering consultancy report made on June 3, the school structure is unsafe and has to be abandoned, the statement added.

"This is in addition to the lack of ventilation and the unhealthy environment, especially in the corridors, the canteen and the bathrooms," the agency said.

Moreover, the school experienced a "serious" incident a few years ago when a fire broke out due to an electric malfunction and burnt the façade.

"Also, the school cannot be maintained because the landlord is refusing to carry out any renovation work," Abu Sakieneh noted.

Thus, UNRWA is working to find alternatives to accommodate the school's 156 students, although it is a "challenging" task because the school has to be abandoned this semester and relocated to another building in the same area.

"The neighbourhood is already crowded, which makes finding an alternative building more challenging," the          UNRWA spokesperson said.

The students will also be offered the option of enrolling in other           UNRWA schools or public schools located in the area.

The agency is also considering offering students a sum of money to alleviate their families' burden of transferring them to other schools.

More than 40 UNRWA-run schools in Jordan are rented and are not designed to be used as schools, according to the agency.

The agency has over 170 schools serving close to 120,000 children from grades one to 10, as well as two technical schools and a faculty of educational science and arts in Jordan. 

The Jordan Times was unable to reach any of the school staff or students for comment.