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Both Islamic and Western culture characterize the
education system in Jordan. Primary school is compulsory and
free for everyone for 10 years from the children are 5 years
and 8 months. About. 70% of children attend public school,
the rest in private. There are also approx. 200 Palestinian
refugee schools run by UNRWA (United Nations Relief and
Works Agency). After primary school, the 2-year upper
secondary school comes with a general and vocational
component. Check topschoolsintheusa for test centers of ACT, SAT, and GRE as well high schools in the country of Jordan.
Higher education has been rapidly expanding since the
1980s. The country has 23 universities; Jordan University in
Amman was founded in 1962. The proportion of illiterate
people is estimated at approx. 10% of the adult population,
of the women approx. 21% (2000).
The country's main source of foreign currency comes from
the amounts that Jordanians abroad - predominantly
Palestinians - send home to their families in Jordan. At the
same time, the state budget is dependent on financial
assistance from the Arab countries. In 1989, this was around
$ 1 billion.
Delay of aid forced the government to ask the IMF for
financial aid. Foreign debt was then up to $ 6 billion. The
rise in prices of basic consumer goods in April 1989 sparked
an uproar among the poor Bedouin population in the south.
Hussein again granted Parliament a limited right to
control the monarchy, freed political prisoners and printed
parliamentary elections.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, the king's
popularity was at its peak, yet he faced a difficult
situation. On the one hand, Jordan was militarily flanked by
Israel, on the other by Iraq. A majority of the population -
the Palestinians - supported Saddam while under pressure
from Western countries to go against Saddam. The country
depended on Saudi Arabia for financial aid and Iraq for oil
supplies.
Jordan opted to join the trade blockade of Iraq, but at
the same time opposed military intervention to implement
Security Council resolutions. As a result of the blockade,
the country lost $ 570 million. Furthermore, it received
40,000 Kurdish refugees, over 1 million Iraqis and about
300,000 Jordanians of Palestinian origin, who were thrown
out of Kuwait in retaliation for the Earth's support for
Iraq.
On June 9, 1991, King Hussein and a number of political
representatives signed a new constitution legalizing the
political parties and extending the political rights to
women.
That same month, Taher Al Masri was appointed prime
minister as a replacement for Mudar Badram. Al Masri was at
the head of Jordan's delegation to the Middle East Peace
Conference in Madrid that same year and furthered the
rapprochement with the Bush administration in the United
States. In November, Taher Al Masri was replaced after
losing a vote of no confidence to the Islamist
fundamentalist bloc in parliament. He was replaced on the
post by Sharif Zeid Ibn Shaker.
The Islamic fundamentalists' progress in the country had
been subject to less repression than elsewhere in the
region. The Muslim Brotherhood was allowed to operate -
initially as a philanthropic organization. The brotherhood's
popularity increased due to its social and health
activities: it owned hospitals, schools and several centers
for Islamic studies. The Brotherhood's political arm was the
Front of Islamic Action (FIA). Both groups opposed the
dialogue with Israel. In November 1992, two FIA MPs were
released as part of a general amnesty for 1,480 political
and ordinary prisoners.
In May 1993, Abdul Salam Madjali was appointed Prime
Minister. He was the head of the Jordanian delegation in
negotiations with Israel. At the November parliamentary
elections - the first in the country's history - TV host
Tuyan Faisal became the country's first female
parliamentarian.
The difficult relations between Islamists and the throne
hindered the negotiations with Israel. It was not until July
1994 that an agreement between Jordan and Israel could be
concluded in Washington, ending the 46-year state of war
between the two countries and allowing 60,000 Palestinian
refugees in Jordan to return home.
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