Amman - Prime Minister Adnan Badran told a visiting German delegation on Saturday that the German Jordanian University of Applied Sciences (GJU) would turn out qualified graduates needed in the local and regional labour markets.
Badran met yesterday with German Federal Minister of Education Edelgard Bulmahn and the accompanying delegation, who are on a three-day official visit to the Kingdom.
During the meeting, they discussed the establishment of the GJU, which will begin its first academic year this October at a temporary location in Amman.
Badran said the disciplines offered by the university would encourage non-Jordanian students to apply for admission.
During a separate meeting with his German counterpart yesterday, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khalid Touqan reviewed the admission policies and disciplines offered by the GJU.
Touqan said students would benefit from German technological expertise at the university, the first of its kind in the Kingdom.
The university will integrate academic learning with technical education and link them to the private sector to meet the demands of the labour market, according to Bulmahn.
She said Germany had allocated 10 million euros for the GJU, which will be located in Mshagar, in Madaba Governorate.
The GJU is among the largest projects under the BMBF-funded German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) programme "Study Courses Abroad."
Members of the German delegation include Minister of Cultural Affairs of Saxony-Anhalt Prof. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz and DAAD Vice President Prof. Max Huber.
Meanwhile, the delegates yesterday visited the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) in Allan.
Bulmahn stressed Germany's support for the vital project, saying it would exert efforts with the EU to provide financial support.
The JD4 million project comprises scientific labs, a library, a computer hall and workshops, which will all work to support the main facility -- a synchrotron complex
Its core will be the BESSY I synchrotron storage ring, which is made in Germany.
In 2000, the scientific committee at UNESCO's executive council decided to choose Jordan to host the centre, which is intended to provide major impetus for basic physical research in the entire region.
By Mohammad Ghazal
© Jordan Times 2005
