Hassan’s Government in Two Years… Paying Off Student Support Fund Debt to Public Universities

Al-Taj News – The education and higher education sectors witnessed a range of projects, programs, and decisions over the past two years aimed at expanding schools’ capacity, improving students’ access to education, linking educational pathways with skills and the labor market, developing inclusive and digital education, and expanding support provided to students and teachers.

The government paid off the full accumulated debt owed by the Student Support Fund to public universities, amounting to around 80 million dinars during the current year.

As part of its support for public universities and their financial stability, the government provided direct support worth 40 million dinars during the current year, and also settled arrears owed to public universities amounting to approximately 100 million dinars as part of a package of government decisions to address accumulated obligations.

Education sector data shows that work on school buildings was one of the most prominent interventions over the past two years, in response to the growth in student numbers and challenges related to overcrowding, rented schools, and the two-shift system.

The expansion of school buildings comes as part of an approach to address the actual needs of different areas and increase the capacity of public schools to accommodate students, while reducing reliance on rented buildings and the two-shift system. Some school projects were implemented through contributions and corporate social responsibility programs.

According to the data, 120 new schools were established from September 2024 through August 2026, including 34 schools during the period from September 2024 through the end of August 2025, and 86 schools by last August. In addition, 132 expansion projects were implemented at existing schools, including classrooms, laboratories, kindergartens, workshops, and other educational facilities.

A total of 95 rented school buildings were also vacated, while the number of students benefiting from building and expansion projects was estimated at around 129,000 over the two years, reflecting an approach aimed at addressing overcrowding and reducing reliance on rented buildings and the two-shift system.

The government continues to establish new schools, with work beginning on the construction of 30 new model schools, similar to those previously established, at an estimated cost of 40 million dinars through the corporate social responsibility project, across various governorates of the Kingdom. They will be completed within one year, adding to the 86 new schools completed over the past 12 months.

Regarding access to schools, the government began implementing the first phase of a school transportation project in the Southern Badia and Aqaba areas, with the aim of providing safe and regular school transportation for students and teaching and administrative staff, and supporting students’ regular attendance at their schools.

The first phase covers 61 schools, around 9,000 students, and approximately 900 male and female teachers and administrative staff, through 110 dedicated transportation buses and 10 reserve buses, according to project data.

The project targets areas in the Southern Badia and Aqaba, and will be followed by gradual expansions of the school transportation system after the first phase began implementation during the 2026/2027 academic year. Implementation will be monitored through the education directorates and relevant committees. The objective of this phase is to improve students’ access to their schools, enhance regular attendance, and alleviate some of the transportation burden on families in the targeted areas.