The International Role in Mitigating the Syrian Crisis Impact on Education Quality in Jordan

This study aims to find out if the international intervention helped to mitigate the Syrian crisis impact on the quality of education in Jordan. We collected and analyzed primary quantitative and qualitative data for a sample of (30 double-shift) public schools in Qasabet-Irbid district (Northern Jordan), close to the Syrian border. Our empirical analysis assesses an overall positive impact of the international intervention on students' outcomes in the affected public schools that received international assistance relative to the counterfactual sample. Students' scores in these treated schools in the four subjects (Math, Science, Arabic, and English) declined less than in the affected public schools that did not receive international assistance (untreated). This positive impact is confirmed by the qualitative analysis as well. However the international intervention was effective in many schools, but it did not cover all the affected public schools in Jordan. On the other hand, many schools that benefited from the intervention lately would have better educational results in the short run. Also, in the near future, there would be a significant enhancement in the whole sector due to the ongoing programs and projects that are funded by the International donors and aim to reduce the crisis impact on quality and enhance the sector's resilient. Finally, GOJ and donors should work together to schooling all refugee children, but without affecting the quality in public schools. Moreover, they should remedy the damage in quality at the affected schools (due to schooling the refugees), as well as launch more programs and initiatives to have a more inclusive intervention.