AMMAN - Public schools in the Kingdom are witnessing a heavy turnout of Iraqis residing in the country, who want to enrol their children before classes start next week.

Last Monday, the Ministry of Education finalised a decision to allow Iraqi students to study in public schools as of the beginning of this scholastic year, without the prerequisite residency permit.

The decision, which was taken in response to the humanitarian situation the Iraqis are going through, is intended to ensure that Iraqi children have access to education, according to an Education Ministry official.

Previously, private schools were accepting Iraqi students, and only Iraqis holding residency permits were allowed to enrol in public schools.

“Large numbers of Iraqis are registering their children in schools across the country,” Managing Director of General Education and Students Affairs Mohammad Okour told The Jordan Times yesterday.

Figures of how many Iraqi school age children have been registered so far are not yet available, he said.

According to Okour, some 50,000 Iraqi students are expected to enter the country’s public schools, in addition to 14,000 who are already in the educational system.

He said an assessment will be carried out as soon as the new school year starts on Sunday, to determine which public schools have large numbers of Iraqi students, in order to address the issue.

“Once we know these areas, we will either operate the double-shift system or rent buildings,” Okour added.

Iraqis residing in the Kingdom welcomed the decision, saying those suffering harsh financial conditions would benefit the most.

“Many Iraqis cannot afford to educate their kids in private schools. This decision will help many Iraqis as their children will not be deprived of an education,” Iraqi national Mohammad Abu Ghosh told The Jordan Times yesterday.

But Abu Ghosh, who came to Jordan last year, said he would keep his three children in the private school they are studying in.

“This is a great decision, I agree, and it did make everybody happy, but I will keep my children in the private school as they have already made friends there. Moving them to a public school will cost me less, but they are comfortable at the private school,” said Abu Ghosh, who is a shareholder in a factory in the Sahab Industrial Estate.

Besides the price of textbooks, Iraqi students will have to pay JD20 per semester at the basic level, while tuition fees for secondary school are set at JD30.

For Abu Hassan, whose two children have been out of school for almost two years, the decision is a blessing.

“I did not send my children to school because I could not afford to, but now I will definitely enrol them,” said Abu Hassan, who works as a porter in downtown Amman.

Although the measure does not directly affect Um Sara, whose daughter is in university, she also welcomed it.

“This decision will help keep children off the streets, which is good for the community in general. In addition, Iraqi children will never forget that they were allowed to study in Jordan after they fled the violence in their country,” said the Iraqi woman, who lives in Amman.