Education in Jordan

The education system of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan includes basic, secondary, and higher education and has dramatically evolved since the establishment of the state in the early 1900s. The role played by a good education system has been significant in the development of Jordan from a predominantly agrarian to an industrialized nation over time.

Jordan has the highest number of researchers in research and development per million people among all the 57 countries that are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC); in Jordan there are 8,060 researchers per million people, while the world average is 2,532 per million.^[2]

In 2003, the share of budget dedicated to education was 6.4 percent of total government expenditure; education spending as a percentage of GDP was 13.5 percent in the same year. At 8.9 percent, Jordan has the lowest illiteracy rate in the Arab world (as of 2012). The primary gross enrollment ratio has increased from 71 percent in 1994 to 98.2 percent in 2006. The transition rate to secondary school, during the same period, increased from 63 percent to 97 percent and transition rates to higher education have varied between 79 and 85 percent of secondary school graduates. Along with these high enrollment and transition rates, Jordan has achieved a 97.89% gender parity in literacy by 2012,^[3] and full parity in primary and secondary enrollment by 2008.^[4]

Jordan is ranked 95 out of 187 in the Human Development Index.^[5] Despite strained resources, the Ministry of Education of Jordan has developed highly advanced national curriculum, and many other nations in the region have developed their education system using Jordan as a model.^{[citation needed]} Jordan ranks number one in the Arab World in education.^{[citation needed]}

The Ministry of Education (MoE) is responsible for the pre-primary, primary, and secondary levels of education. Post-secondary education is the responsibility of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MoHESR), which includes the Higher Education Council and the Accreditation Council.

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI)^[6] finds that Jordan is fulfilling only 63.7% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income.^[7] HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Jordan's income level, the nation is achieving only 62.1% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education and 65.2% for secondary education.^[8]