Amman: The World Bank Group (WBG) Monday approved two new programs worth $700 million aimed to strengthen human capital in Jordan through targeted investments in the fields of education, health and social aid, as well as enhance Jordanian families’ capacity to withstand shocks.
The Human Capital Program in Jordan, and the Modernizing Education, Skills, and Administrative Reforms (MASAR) Program aims to advance sustainable and inclusive growth, enhance the quality of education, and provide youth with skills necessary for the future labor market, it said in a statement.
The WBG confirmed in a statement on its website that over the past years, Jordan’s capacity to withstand the increasing volatility in the region has been commendable and appreciated, but external shocks have affected economic growth and job creation, and limited the ability to address pressing social and economic challenges.
Given the fact that more than 66 percent of Jordan’s population is under the age of 30, the Kingdom has a unique opport
unity to benefit from the demographic dividend to achieve development and growth, but there are still gaps in access to education, especially in the early childhood stage, and it is necessary to increase investments to improve the quality of education and promote and expand technical and vocational education and training, in order to enhance employment opportunities in the future, it said.
The high prevalence of risk factors, such as smoking and the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, lead to increased morbidity, decreased productivity, and decreased participation in the labor market, it pointed out.
Despite the remarkable progress made by the Jordanian government in expanding the scope of social protection programs across the Kingdom, especially government-suppoted programs, such as the cash transfer program, there are still wide gaps in the coverage of the social protection system, as one-third of Jordanian workers are not covered by the social security umbrella so far.
Jean-Christophe Carret
, World Bank Country Director for the Middle East Departmen, stressed that for Jordan to achieve development ambitions, it must harness its greatest components, the human capital, especially youth and women, and that through increasing investment in education, health, and social protection, the Kingdom can enhance the capacity of its economy to withstand shocks and include everyone. It also can empower young people, especially women and the most needy groups, to fully participate in advancing growth and development at the Kingdom level and benefit from them, he added.
The $300 million human capital program in Jordan aims to support the governance and effectiveness of social sectors, to ensure better and more sustainable results for all Jordanians, and enhance resilience, including protecting families from the negative impact of climate change, according to the statement.
This program supports the delivery of results-oriented and cost-effective services, and focuses on continuing to strengthen governance and
accountability in public spending across key sectors, namely: education (the most important sector for providing Jordanian youth with the skills needed to achieve economic growth), and health (the sector responsible for a large proportion of arrears despite regular injections of funds), and social aid (as the cash transfer program is among the most advanced and effective in reducing inequality and poverty rates).
The MASAR Program of $400 million, including a $7 million grant from the Global Concessional Financing Mechanism, aims to provide Jordanian children and youth with appropriate skills for the labor market and the ongoing economic transformation across the Kingdom.
The program focuses on 3 main areas: improve the transition from home to school, increase access to basic education, enhance the transition from school to work, expand access to education and vocational and technical training that meets the needs of the labor market, and improve the efficiency of the education system and human resources ma
nagement, it said.
The MASAR program includes a technical aid and capacity building component to support the government in its implementation, as well as the implementation of vital reforms, the statement added.
By 2029, the MASAR program is expected to achieve major accomplishments, including enrolling an additional 25,000 students in the second grade of kindergarten, ensuring that 4,200 kindergarten school classrooms meet minimum quality standards, and enrolling 150,000 students in grades 1-3 In targeted programs to improve basic skills, it said.
The MASAR program also aims to graduate 50,000 students from accredited technical and vocational education and training programs in priority sectors, and ensure that 70 percent of teachers and school principals are appointed according to the civil service system through a new merit-based mechanism. The program will also benefit refugees, and will contribute to the Jordanian response plan for the Syrian crisis 2024-2026, according to the World Bank statement.
Th
e Human Capital and MASAR programs in Jordan are fully consistent with the Kingdom’s reform priorities, as stated in the Economic Modernization Vision and the Public Sector Modernization Roadmap for the years 2023-2025, and give priority to human capital, in addition to supporting the implementation of the “Smart Jordan” program, a very ambitious programmer, it said.
The MASAR program is also consistent with the ongoing support provided by the World Bank to reform the education sector and the public sector in Jordan. The program builds on previous achievements and aims to establish a more efficient, comprehensive and responsive educational system, it said
Source: Jordan News Agency