A financing agreement to expand support for maintenance of public schools and create job opportunities for Jordanians and Syrian refugees in Jordan was signed between the Head of Employment and Education Middle East KfW (German Development Bank) and Muhammad Usman Akram, Director of UNOPS Operational Hub in Amman on Saturday.

A grant of €40.5 million will be provided by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on behalf of the German Government to support labour-intensive school maintenance through a second phase of the programme, the United Nations Office for Project Services stated in a press release on Sunday.

This project aims to provide a safe and sufficient educational environment for students across 800 schools in Jordan, said the Director of the Development Coordination Unit at the Ministry of Education, Lama al-Natour.

The project also focuses on providing 12,000 job opportunities, through the maintenance and cleaning of 390 schools in the governorates of Amman, Irbid, Mafraq, Balqa, Ajloun and Zarqa.

It will be implemented over a period of five years in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, educational institutions, and the ministries of labor and social development.

"Education and Employment is an important focal area of the German Jordanian Financial Cooperation," said the Director of KfW Amman Office, Mark Schwiete.

The German government through the German Development Bank, has financed the construction of 37 schools and the provision of informal education opportunities.

This whole project comes to reduce poverty and unemployment rates in Jordan.