Local

This video "Spring and Winter" by Barakat Zaza shows the green landscape in the village of Jdeita and surrounding areas in Koura District, Irbid. Jdeita is some 80 kilometres north of Amman. The video, Zaza said, was taken recently over a period of a week

Video contributed by Barakat Zaza

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) personnel have arrested six suspects allegedly involved in drug dealing in a raid in the Northeastern Badia, the Public Security Department (PSD) said Sunday.

The six suspects used tents in the badia to store and sell drugs, the PSD said in a statement. 

The tents contained 20kg of hashish and the suspects were referred to the State Security Court prosecutor.

AMMAN — Jordan is currently negotiating with the World Bank over a $500 million loan for the year 2016 under new and easier terms Jordan has not been entitled to due to its ranking as an upper-middle-income country.

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury said such concessional loans are usually given with an interest rate of less than 3 per cent, and “we are negotiating with the World Bank to obtain these loans at 1 per cent interest and a longer grace period”.

Jordan secured the waiver during a refugee donor meeting in London on February 4, where officials negotiated for easy lending and grants to shift international response to the Syrian refugee crisis from an emergency and relief mode to a sustainable development mode. The aim is to have Syrian refugees integrated in the local labour market under certain conditions. 

At a press conference following a meeting with executive directors from the World Bank Group in the Kingdom, Fakhoury described the visit as “historic” as it would help “realign their support with the priorities and needs of Jordan to look at the new ways on how to provide more, additional concessional refinancing in spite of Jordan being an upper-middle income country”.

He added that London Conference held was a point that was “transformative, basically stating that Jordan should get more concessional refinancing, in spite of its rating”.

The delegation, which represents 46 per cent of the voting power in the group, was in Jordan as part of a regional tour that also includes Lebanon, to witness first-hand the scale and acuteness of the refugee crisis in these countries, and to explore with stakeholders the needs and priorities of the refugees as well as the hosting communities.

The board represents over 62 countries and close to 46 per cent of the voting power of the World Bank, said Fakhoury, adding that they have spent the past two days looking very closely and in the field on what the regional situation has been and to what extent it is “negatively impacting government services and host communities”.

At a practical level, he said, this comes as a follow-up of the London Conference, as part of the Jordan Compact to provide more assistance to Jordan on the grant side and regarding its needs for the concessional refinancing.

He added that Jordan would be working closely with the World Bank on the technical assistance side to programme and manage the implementation of the Jordan Compact, the document issued at the conference stating the commitments of the international community, international financial institutions and the multilateral development banks to assisting the Kingdom.

“So overall, we are going to have a much deeper relationship with the World Bank in the years to come to assist Jordan economically, because this is where the World Bank intervenes,” the minister stressed.

Meanwhile, Frank Heemskerk, an executive director representing several European countries at the World Bank Group, said the group would support Jordan in these difficult conditions.

 “Jordan now is facing difficult economic times, but it has shown political stability… efficient government,” Heemskerk said at the press conference.

“We stand ready to support Jordan in addressing these challenges, to focus on efficient and effective public services,” the official said.

AMMAN — Universities should close down or admit fewer students into disciplines with which the civil service is oversupplied, according to the head of the agency responsible for public sector employment. 

"Universities should reduce the number of graduates in these fields or close them down for a while…the Higher Education Council should ban some of the disciplines that are considered to be stagnant," Civil Service Bureau (CSB) President Khaled Hmeisat told The Jordan Times on Sunday. 

Hmeisat stressed the need to focus on technical training, which he said is in high demand now. 

Education, English and Arabic literatures, accounting and computer science are the most common majors in job applications received by the bureau, according to official figures.

The CSB classifies nursing, business administration, economics and computer science as specialisations with which the public sector is "very saturated", while political science, hotel management, mechatronics and dentistry are deemed "very stagnant". 

On the other hand, medicine and mathematics are classified as "needed in moderation", whereas Sharia studies are considered "needed". 

According to the bureau's annual report, the number of those who applied for jobs through the CSB fell by 15 per cent to 29,996 in 2015, down from 35,247 in 2014.

Of that, only 5 per cent of the total number of applicants get hired in the government every year, Hmeisat said. 

Higher Education Ministry Secretary General Hani Dmour said that while the ministry refers its recommendations to universities regarding the specialisations they offer, it “cannot decide what disciplines they should stop teaching”.

“We call on universities to draw up new plans every three to five years based on the market demand, but cannot ask them to close down certain programmes and let go of students and faculty members,” he told The Jordan Times. 

The ministry official noted that the CSB is only concerned with public sector jobs. 

“Some fields are not in demand by the government, but are highly required by the private sector and other countries,” he said.

Dmour added that the ministry cooperates with stakeholders, such as the Higher Education Accreditation Commission, to bridge the gap between educational outcomes and job market needs.

Meanwhile, he noted that the ministry and the CSB are “very clear” about disciplines not in demand in the public sector, but people still apply to the bureau because they are determined to secure a job with the government. 

“This is more evident among women whose families only allow them to work in the public sector,” he said.

There are currently around 200,000 government employees, according to official figures.  

AMMAN — Maya, a 13-year-old Syrian refugee residing in Zaatari camp, used to wake up every day at around 6am and sometimes before, but not to have breakfast and to go to school like other girls of her age. 

Maya, not her real name, used to get out of bed to join her father and brother in working in nearby farms in Mafraq by illegally crossing the fence surrounding the camp, for a daily JD5 salary.

She would unlawfully leave the camp, in Mafraq, several times and work for months with her father and 12-year-old brother to help her family of six.

She worked every day from around 6am to 6pm and would return to the camp through the same spot in the fence in the darkness. 

One day, Maya told her mother she did not want to go to work anymore. She refused to talk to anyone, cried most of the time and was acting differently. All of which alarmed her mother, who sought the help of one of the relief agencies working in the camp. 

The relief worker that counselled Maya told The Jordan Times that she was sexually harassed by a guest labourer while working on one of the farms.

“Her parents were not convinced in the beginning, but after conducting medical tests that proved she was sexually assaulted, they stopped sending her to work," the relief worker said.

Her mother said the family was in dire need for money and was forced to send Maya and her brother to join their father in working in some farms nearby. “Each made around JD5 per day, but it was seasonal,” she told The Jordan Times.

 “All families here send their children to work either inside or outside the camp if they can although it is risky and dangerous,” the mother said.

Maya and her brother are among thousands of Syrian children whose families’ difficult economic situation forces them to work to secure a source of income.

“Child labour among Syrian refugees is a big problem inside and outside the Zaatari camp,” Andrew Harper, the UNHCR representative to Jordan, told The Jordan Times over the phone.

“As it is difficult for Syrian families to find employment legally, they send their children to work and make them drop out of school to make some money,” he said.

“Around 30 per cent of the camp’s 80,000 residents are children of school age. Half of them do not attend any of the nine schools in the camp because they work,” Harper said. 

Addressing the problem of child labour and preventing any sort of violations that Syrian kids might be subject to partially lies in the implementation of the international community’s pledges to Jordan during the recently-held donor conference in London to facilitate creating jobs for Syrians and legalising their work in the Kingdom, the UN official said.

Following the London conference, the government said it intends to designate five development zones and provide them with incentives under the new investment law. The EU also pledged to accelerate plans to revise preferential rules of origin with a view to an outcome by this summer. 

These measures could in the coming years provide about 200,000 job opportunities for Syrian refugees while they remain in the country, contributing to the Jordanian economy without competing with Jordanians for jobs.

“When jobs are created for Syrian refugees, they will have a sense of security and will not send their kids to work and face risks outside their homes in illegal jobs,” Harper said.

According to Harper, the number of Syrian refugees escaping the fence to work outside the camp “used to be higher but the number has been reduced due to tight control on the fence”.

Child labour among  refugees is growing at a fast pace and  is turning into a phenomenon inside and outside the  camps, Ahmad Awad, director of the Phenix Centre, told The Jordan Times.

A study released in late 2015 indicated that child labour is becoming “increasingly common” in Jordan, especially among refugees whose children join the labour market to help their families generate an income.

The majority of Syrian children working do not receive “fair” wages, as what they are paid is below the minimum monthly wage specified for Jordanians — JD190 — and guest workers — JD150. According to a study by Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights, around 46 per cent of Syrian boys in the workplace put in more than 44 hours a week, while girls make up 14 per cent of the total number of Syrian children in the labour market.

Legalising Syrian workers and creating jobs for Syrian parents would play a significant role in curbing child labour, Awad added.

“If Syrians are given the chance to work in decent conditions in return for monthly salaries, they will definitely become economically and socially stable and will send their children to schools,” he said.

Manal, a Syrian refugee who fled to Zaatari three years ago from Daraa after her husband was shot dead, said that she is “willing to work long hours and learn any skill to be able to work legally”.

“I heard about Jordan’s plans to create jobs for Syrian refugees and that it would not be at the expense of jobs for Jordanians. I think this is a very good idea as we are in dire need for money,” she told The Jordan Times.

“If I have a job, I will send my children to school because I know their future is in education and not in cleaning shops or carrying stuff for other people in the marketplace,” said Manal.

Economist Hosam Ayesh said that the international community needs to speed up the implementation of its pledges to Jordan to be able to create some jobs for Syrians, as that will play an important role in ending child labour.

“We need to be realistic that the jobs may not be created in a short time. It will be a gradual process, but it will eventually and partially help,” said Ayesh, adding that engaging Syrian families in some economic activities or small-scale projects will help as a start. 

Conducting awareness programmes among Syrian families, financially enhancing their conditions and reducing university tuition for their children are crucial to addressing child labour, said Harper.

“There is a need for more efforts to address the gap, as there is a big problem when it comes to the thousands of Syrian  youngsters not enrolled in schools, which will result in high illiteracy rates in the future,” Harper added.

“Currently, we have a partnership with Al Bayt University whereby Syrian refugees are given the chance to study and pay tuition similar to Jordanian students rather than as foreigners,” the UN official said.

“Many Syrian teenagers refuse to go to school because they feel there is no point. Universities can obtain support from the international community if they do this and take the initiative as there is large room for attracting aid in this area,” Harper said. 

If the UN estimates are correct and refugees would stay for 17 years in their haven, Maya and her brother might enroll in Al Bayt University, if they are guaranteed schooling and a decent living for the family.

AMMAN — Although Madaba resident Malak Shawabkeh already runs a business selling handmade soap and candles, she said the skills she gained from a recent training programme helped her improve her business.

"I was able to develop technical skills that improved the quality of the products and enabled me to find suitable markets in Madaba and elsewhere in the country," she told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

Shawabkeh said her project, which employs eight women from her neighbourhood, is "financially rewarding" and is possibly better-paying than any formal job she could get.

The mother of two said she makes sure to engage her son and daughter, 11 and 9, in the business so that they will grow up with a skill and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Shawabkeh is one of 162 participants who took part in the Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Sustainability Programme, which targeted residents of nine villages in Madaba Governorate, some 30km southwest of Amman.

The programme, carried out by the Business Development Centre (BDC) in partnership with the Employment-Technical and Vocational Education and Training Fund (E-TVET ) and the Tourism Ministry, sought to equip the local community with a comprehensive set of tools to develop quality, market-oriented handicrafts.

Experienced practitioners trained participants on how to create mosaics, paint on glass, and produce homemade soap and candles.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony and an exhibition marking the conclusion of the programme, Tourism Minister Nayef Al Fayez said the project is in line with the ministry's strategy to empower local communities and enhance their economic participation in the tourism sector.

He added that such programmes producing quality handicrafts will enrich visitors' experiences, calling for expanding the initiative to include all governorates, starting with Jerash. 

The project is an example of efficient private-public partnership to equip members of the local community with the needed skills to create or develop products, said Nayef Stetieh, president and CEO of the BDC.

Stetieh noted that 69 of the participants, the vast majority of whom are women, have opened their own businesses, providing 85 job opportunities in their local communities and achieving sales exceeding JD29,000 in two months. 

The training programme, which lasted for three months, included business management skills, networking with prospective buyers and private firms, and strategies for marketing, pricing and exhibiting the products, he said.

Meanwhile, Stetieh called on hotels and large firms that give away gifts and promotional items to support local producers by providing "permanent marketing lines" for these "quality" products.  

E-TVET Director General Ghassan Abu Yaghi highlighted the role of vocational work in reducing unemployment rates among young people and spreading the culture of independent work, particularly in the tourism sector.

He added that the cost of the project stood at JD135,000.

"I hope Jordanians across the country can benefit from such training programmes that would enhance their financial independence," Shawabkeh concluded. 

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Sunday met with a delegation of members from the World Bank’s board of executive directors, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The delegation is visiting Jordan to view the repercussions of the Syrian crisis. The premier voiced hope that the visit will result in enhancing Jordan’s relations with the bank.

Ensour thanked the World Bank for its supportive stances to the Kingdom and said that according to the 2015 population census, Jordan’s population grew to 9.5 million, 3 million of whom are refugees and non-Jordanians. He also highlighted the impact of the Syrian crisis on the Kingdom’s resources and sectors and talked about the regional developments that caused the closure of the border with Iraq. 

AMMAN — A three-year-old boy was in unstable condition on Sunday after a car hit him in Ajloun, a Civil Defence Department (CDD) statement said. The motorist drove off after he hit the boy, Ajloun CDD Director Col. Hani Smadi said, noting that the boy was taken to Al Iman Hospital. Also on Sunday, four people were injured on Sunday in a three-vehicle collision in Salhoub.

CDD cadres took the injured to Prince Hussein Hospital where they were listed in fair condition. In another accident, five people were injured when their vehicle overturned in Mafraq. CDD personnel took them to Mafraq Public Hospital, where they were listed in fair condition.

AMMAN — Almost three years after the University of Jordan’s (UJ) decision to raise tuition fees for its parallel and postgraduate programmes, students on Sunday gathered to protest the cost of postgraduate education.

In the “27th protest” since the decision was announced, organised by the Student Rally for the Cancellation of the Tuition Fee Hike group, around 50 UJ students gathered in front of the administration building to “protest the university’s insistence on the decision”.

Ahmad Mustafa, one of the organisers, said the sit-in was staged on campus to demonstrate the students’ rejection of the fee hike.  

“The participating students are from several parties and backgrounds, so we can deliver the message clearly,” Mustafa said. “It is to emphasise that education is for everyone.”

He added that there was no “clear response” to students’ demands despite many protests since the decision to raise fees was taken.

Hisham Ayasrah, PhD student in sociology, said the tuition fees for postgraduate programmes were raised by 100 to 180 per cent. 

“The decision has restricted enrolment in universities to people who belong to the upper class or have a relatively high income,” he told The Jordan Times. “[Underprivileged] students and those who want to learn are not getting a chance to continue their studies.” 

Ayasrah claimed that 17 majors in postgraduate programmes at UJ had to close over a period of two years, since no students registered as a result of the increase in fees.

The activist recounted that students and the council of deans at the university together made several attempts to cancel the decision, but the university’s board of trustees refused to sign the appeal. 

Officials at UJ’s administration were unavailable to comment on these claims or on the protest.

For Ayasrah, one credit hour of his PhD programme at UJ used to cost around JD80, while after the fee rise it now costs around JD180. 

Mohammad Saaydeh, UJ student union president, said students plan to continue protests overnight until the university administration agrees to reverse the fee hike and find a deal that serves both parties. 

“Raising tuition fees was first announced when the university suffered from a fiscal deficit,” he told The Jordan Times.

UJ officials have said in previous remarks that the 27 per cent deficit in the university’s JD140 million budget prompted the board of trustees to decide to increase tuition fees. 

AMMAN — The Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF) has signed a memorandum of understanding to fund five Chevening Scholarships for MA programmes in the UK in education, development, public policy and economy, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday.

QRF CEO Haifa Dia Al Attia and British Ambassador to Jordan Edward Oakden signed the memo. Oakden praised the QRF’s role in funding the scholarships for Jordanians planning to apply for MA programmes in the UK.