AMMAN - The US announced here yesterday a $30 million contribution towards a UN appeal to support host governments that are providing schooling for Iraqi children.

The announcement was made by visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey during a press conference at a public girls school in Amman that has already accepted 145 new Iraqi students.

This is the first response to the $129 million joint appeal made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in July to provide education for Iraqi children in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, according to the UN.

Both UN agencies told The Jordan Times that it is yet to be determined how much of this assistance will be directed specifically to Jordan, which has this year accepted additional tens of thousands of school-age Iraqis.

The US embassy in Amman was unable to determine when the funds will be released.

During her announcement, in which she lauded Jordan’s recent open-door school policy for Iraqi children, Sauerbrey urged other countries to follow suit and contribute to the appeal.

“The United States believes the response to the needs of displaced Iraqis is best addressed through a multilateral effort… attracting resources from a broad range of potential donors,” the US official said.

“I am convinced that educating Iraqi children is one of the most critical ingredients for a peaceful and prosperous Iraq,” she added.

The US official pointed out that the $30 million contribution came in addition to more than $150 million the US has made available to assist Iraqi exiles and the internally displaced since the war began.

The US has been under severe criticism for its trickle of humanitarian aid since the war began, while it is estimated that the war on Iraq costs US taxpayers $5.9 billion a month, according to the public policy research arm for the US Congress, the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

The recent CRS research paper that reported a 19 per cent increase in war costs since last year said that Iraq will receive about $450 billion for all war-related appropriations from fiscal year 2001 through May 25, 2007. Other US government estimates place monthly war spending at around $12 billion a month or over $200 million a day.

Meanwhile, UNICEF Representative in Amman Anne Skatvedt told The Jordan Times that yesterday’s gathering was a chance to celebrate three milestones.

“The generous policy by the Jordan government to let Iraqi children into schools, the fact that Iraqi children are already attending classes and the new funds announcement that will help deliver practical solutions within the system.”

She believes that the biggest obstacle is overcrowding and better solutions must be found to maintain quality learning.

“Space is the major problem, most schools are full and we heard today that there are up to 67 students in one class,” Skatvedt said.

Iraqi children have until mid-September to enrol but it has yet to be determined what will be of Iraqi schoolchildren left without education.

The Education Ministry has estimated that around 50,000 students will enter the school system this year amid a UN estimate of 250,000 schoolchildren residing in the Kingdom.

Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khalid Touqan, who also attended the press meeting, noted that Amman, Zarqa and Ruseifa have been the hardest hit with the influx of Iraqi pupils, saying the majority of schools receiving them will need to switch to the notorious double-shift system.

UNHCR Representative in Amman Imran Riza welcomed the US funding. He seized the opportunity to let the international community know that this funding will not be enough.

“The Jordanian government understandably has been clear that accommodating these additional children must not negatively affect the education of Jordanian children. Hence the need for the international community to respond quickly and generously to this appeal,” Riza said.

The US-led war has resulted in a mass exodus of between 2-2.5 million persons mostly to Jordan and Syria and half are estimated to be children. The unabated number of persons fleeing the war record around 2,000 a day, according to UN figures.