AMMAN (Jordan Times) – Around 1.7 million students from across the Kingdom will head to schools today, including 500,000 in private and UNRWA schools.

The Ministry of Education has completed preparations for the 2011-2012 scholastic year, including opening 35 new schools, in addition to renovating 60 schools.

With around 16,000 switching from private to public schools and more than 141,000 first graders, several measures were taken to accommodate the newcomers, including the appointment of some 4,300 teachers.

At a press conference on Saturday, Education Minister Tayseer Nueimi said the ministry has distributed around 22.5 million copies of schoolbooks to its departments at a cost of JD11 million, adding that the books will be handed out to students as of today, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

As part of the ministry’s preparations for the 2011-2012 academic year, it will relaunch the School Nutrition Programme, allocating JD10 million of its budget to implement it. READ MORE

People shop for schoolbags at an outlet in Amman on Saturday (Photo by Muath Freij)