Education

Jordan has both a private and a public school system. Of the 6355 schools operating in the 2012/13 academic year, 3582 were state schools and 2600 were private. In the tertiary education sector there are currently 10 public and 19 private universities. Foreign enrolment remains high at the kingdom’s universities, with foreign students accounting for around 11% of undergraduates in the 2012/13 academic year. The largest source of foreign students is Palestine, followed by Iraq, Syria, and then Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of Education has made entrepreneurship education a key focus and this has resulted in dedicated courses and business incubators being established at universities. Meanwhile, an emphasis on research and development aims to boost innovation in the energy and water sectors, and also in pharmaceuticals, analysis of biological materials and organic fine chemistry.