(MENAFN - Jordan Times) Schools will be built for Syrian children at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Mafraq, under an agreement signed on Monday by the Bahraini Royal Charity Organisation and the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation.
The planned compound will comprise four mobile schools that can host up to 4,000 students, and will be built in accordance with Ministry of Education standards, the ministry said in a statement sent to The Jordan Times.
Until the school buildings are ready, the students will attend classes in tents at the camp, UNICEF communication specialist Samir Badran said, noting that 520 Syrian children have registered so far with UNICEF to join the schools.
Registration of students at Zaatari started on Sunday and will run until the end of this week through a registration office in the camp, he said.
UNICEF will cover the cost of the schools and the salaries of the ministry's teachers who will work there.
According to Badran, classes are scheduled to start by the end of next week.
"We will hold placement tests to determine the educational level of each child, because most of them have not been in school for one year," he told The Jordan Times in a previous statement on Sunday.
UNICEF will also support the building of extra prefabricated classrooms in other schools across the Kingdom that have become overcrowded due to the enrolment of Syrian children, the UNICEF official added.
Earlier this week, the ministry issued a statement explaining the process for accepting Syrian students in the Kingdom's schools.
According to the statement, Syrians residing in cities outside the camp and who are not registered with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) can enrol in private schools or public schools, but will have to pay fees.
Syrians who are registered with UNHCR but reside outside the camp can join public schools and will be given one month to submit the required papers certifying that they are registered as refugees. Donor organisations will cover fees, schoolbooks and other expenses for these students.
