The recent education reforms started in the early 1990s. This reform process was accelerated under His Majesty King Abdullah II in early 2001 with a vision to make Jordan the regional technology hub and an active player in the global economy. The National Vision and Mission for Education, as developed and endorsed in late 2002, states the desired direction for general education in the country. The two major consultative documents, that helped shape the national vision and also set directions for educational reform initiatives, were Jordan Vision 2020 and the 2002 Vision Forum for the Future of Education. These documents spanned kindergarten to lifelong continuing education. The overall strategy proposed by the Forum was endorsed by the Economic Consultative Council (ECC) in October 2002. The national development strategy and the Forum results were consolidated into specific development plans, the Social and Economic Transformation Plan, the General Education Plan 2003-08.
In July 2003, the Government of Jordan launched an ambitious program in the entire MENA region a 10-year multi-donor Education Reform for the Knowledge Economy Program (ErfKE) of which the World Bank provided US$120 million. The goal of the program was to re-orient the education policies and programs in line with the needs of a knowledge based economy, improve the physical learning environment in most schools and promote early childhood education. This first phase of program is from 2003-2009, closing in June 2009.
The second phase of the ErfKE, which is aligned with IBRD and IFC Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, will be from 2009-2015. The aim of this program is to strengthen and institutionalize the reforms introduced under ERfKE I, with a particular focus on school level implementation and teacher quality. It will strengthen the institutional capacity of MoE in policy, strategic planning and monitoring and evaluation, and improve teacher employment, utilization and professional development policies and implementation. The program will also fine tune the curriculum and student assessment to ensure alignment with the knowledge based economy.
Jordan Education Initiative recently received the UNESCO prize on ICT use in Education.This pioneering education project in Jordan schools is based on utilizing the power of information and technology with the proven methods of learning to transform the learning environment in schools.