Jordan Times
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Education fund to promote entrepreneurial projects
Amman (Petra) — The Educational Renovation Fund, which was set up recently by the Education Ministry, began operation on Saturday, officials said.
The fund provides financial assistance to implement innovative, income-generating ideas suggested by a school or a coalition of schools.
Minister of Education Khalid Touqan said the project was set up to improve the learning-teaching process by giving schools the opportunity to support themselves through their own initiatives, which include, according to a list of proposed projects, producing teaching aids, creating educational material that supports curricula, and rearing domestic animals such as rabbits, ostriches and other birds.
Starting in the scholastic year 2004-2005, the fund will extend aid to projects classified into three levels according to the amount of money needed. Small grants of JD1,000 go to small projects, while medium-sized assistance will be extended to ideas that require up to JD5,000 where more than one school is involved.
Large projects, which include several schools from different education directorates at the national level, receive about JD10,000.
Projects fall into four categories or fields, according to Touqan. These include school administration, curricula development, e-learning and vocational development.
All public and private schools are eligible to compete for the grants. In the application form, the school is required to present a synopsis of the suggested and clarify the feasibility of the idea, its potential impact on the local community and the implementation timetable.