Students share academic dreams at scholarship awarding ceremony

AMMAN — Syrian refugee Mohammad Deiri, who obtained his Higher and Further Education Opportunities and Perspectives for Syrians  (HOPES)-funded master’s degree from the Al al-Bayt University, said his dream is now a PhD. 

Deiri, from Syria's Daraa province, is the first Syrian from the Zaatari Refugee Camp to earn an MA in educational sciences from the Al al-Bayt University in Mafraq in March 2018 thanks to the EU-funded HOPES scholarships. 

"My dream now is to obtain a PhD," Deiri, who came to Jordan in 2013, said on Wednesday.

The EU-funded HOPES project held a ceremony on Wednesday to award 57 Jordanian and Syrian students with scholarships for a one-year bachelor and master's degrees to continue their final year of study at several Jordanian universities.  

Giving the opening speech, Carsten Walbiner, the HOPES project director, said that, under the EU-funded HOPES project, a total of 116 young people from the Syrian refugee population and the Jordanian host community (64 Syrians and 52 Jordanians) have been granted so far the opportunity to pursue university studies at 18 Jordanian public and private universities. 

"This is nearly double the number that was originally foreseen. But it is not the numbers that count, it is the achievement of our students that gives really reason for being proud," he said. 

"The dropout rate in our programme is extremely low — so far only two students skipped their studies unsuccessfully — and many of our scholarship holders belong to the best students of their respective study groups."

To date, HOPES has granted 621 full scholarships in Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.  HOPES is a 12 million euro ($ 13.82 million) regional project, funded by the EU's Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian Crisis, “the Madad Fund” and implemented by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) together with the British Council, Campus France, and Nuffic.

HOPES activities include full academic scholarships at different levels, English courses, academic counseling and support funding for innovative short-term education projects.

The EU's “Madad Fund” addresses socioeconomic, educational, health, sanitary and psychosocial needs of Syrian refugees, host communities and their administrations, and internally displaced persons in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.