German scholarships enable Jordanian, Syrian students to pursue Master’s degrees

AMMAN — The German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD), in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the German embassy in Jordan, celebrated the granting of scholarships to a total of 40 Syrian and Jordanian graduates seeking to pursue master’s degrees. 

The scholarships will provide the students with an opportunity to pursue programmes at local universities.

The scholarships were granted to the beneficiaries earlier this year, according to the German-Jordanian University website.

Starting from the fall semester of this year, the programme aims to provide outstanding candidates with the mandatory requirements to apply for master’s programmes at four local universities: the University of Jordan, the German-Jordanian University, Jordan University of Science and Technology and Yarmouk University. 

DAAD’s Amman representative Andreas Wutz said that the project began last autumn, with more than 400 applications submitted. The pre-selection process shortlisted 122 students for the interview, 40 of whom received the scholarships.

The scholarships give students the opportunity to pursue their studies in any field except medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry and law, Wutz said.

To receive the scholarship, both Jordanian and Syrian applicants required a Bachelor’s degree, English language skills, and excellent interpersonal skills. The students were also required to have some knowledge of the Syrian conflict, according to DAAD. 

GIZ country director, Micheala Baur, stressed the importance of both education and the exchange of experiences to overcome hardships in the region.

“Syrians don’t want to be seen firstly as refugees, they want to be seen — and this is more than understandable — as human beings like the rest of us,” Baur said.

A preparatory course for the 20 Syrian scholarship recipients was held at local universities. The courses began in June and continued over a period of three months, with students attendeding classes in English, research methodology and statistics.

The programme tuition fees at local universities range from $3,000 to $5,000 per year, depending on the field of study, according to Wutz.

He noted that call for new scholarship application started on October 1 and the submission deadline will be November 30, 2015.