Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Azmi Mahaftha on Thursday received US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), Lee Satterfield. The meeting, attended by Minister of Culture Haifa Al Najjar, covered cooperation between Jordan and the United States of America on projects to develop educational programs and preserving culture and heritage. Mahaftha presented the Education Ministry’s development plan in various fields, which has made significant progress in developing vocational education, in terms of upskilling students, providing an appropriate school environment, developing training programs for teachers and trainers in schools and vocational workshops, in addition to signing a partnership agreement with Pearson to include BTEC curricula and specializations within the vocational education stream in Jordanian schools. Mahaftha voiced the Ministry of Education’s keenness to build effective partnerships with relevant government and private sector institutions to provide appropriate training for students to prepare generations with competitive qualifications and skills on the Arab and regional levels that meet the future labor market needs, in line with directives of His Majesty King Abdullah and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, to develop the educational process and the Jordan economic modernization vision. For her part, Al Najjar spoke about to the National Strategy for Culture for (2023-2027), which was approved by the government in April, and includes an executive action plan to be formulated with the participation of all institutions, agencies, organizations and individuals concerned with cultural affairs in Jordan. In turn, Satterfield stressed the importance of the existing partnership between the two sides, and the American side’s keenness to support the Jordanian government’s efforts in developing education and preserving culture and heritage. Satterfield called for encouraging students to consider choosing a variety of educational streams in universities and vocational schools that are suitable for them, and creating an educational environment that encourages arts, humanities and majors that will provide job opportunities that support the creative economy. Satterfield said that there are more than 4,000 academic institutions and vocational schools in the United States, where students can navigate appropriate majors and learning for everyone is available.

Source: Jordan News Agency