Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

address the education needs of all Iraqis. As a result, the MOE will embark on a visioning
exercise to discuss how to produce a well-informed and widely owned design for a high-quality,
modern education system for Iraq. The survey produced baseline data that will inform the
MOE’s education policy reforms and development and enable monitoring of the progress of
education activities.
Jordan. USAID oversaw an Education Reform Support Program (ERSP) that directly supported
the Government of Jordan’s Education Reform for a Knowledge Economy (ERfKE) program.
This project provided technical assistance for early childhood education through kindergarten
renovations, thus developing a quality assurance framework. ERSP provided professional
development opportunities for teachers, youth activities, data for informed decision making, and
the development of an online curriculum for the exam administered at the end of secondary
school. Jordan also has a School Construction and Rehabilitation project that aims to build 28
new schools and renovate 100 schools by September 2013. This is in direct support of ERfKE to
reduce over-crowding, double shifted schools, and rented school facilities. The Community
Mobilization Project works in the communities where USAID is building and renovating schools
to establish community-parent-school coalitions to enhance parent involvement in schools and
maintain the positive effects of the school construction and rehabilitation. A Monitoring and
Evaluation Partnership Project works with the National Counsel for Human Resource
Development (NCHRD), the external body that implements studies to evaluate the effects of
ERfKE. USAID is providing capacity building for NCHRD and opportunities to enhance the
relationship between NCHRD and the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) Monitoring and
Evaluation unit. The Learning Environment Technical Support Project is a research-based
project to improve the learning environments at 320 at-risk schools addressing violence,
vandalism, health matters, and other issues that impede student progress.
Lebanon. USAID supported the Developing Rehabilitation Assistance to Schools and Teacher
Improvement (D-RASATI) project, which developed a comprehensive school assessment
instrument for gathering information on physical facilities, student-staff ratios, and available
equipment available, for example. For the first time, information was gathered for all 1,281
public schools in Lebanon. The project also developed an Information and Communications
Technology strategy and created standards for school health and safety in the Effective School
Profile for the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. Specialized engineering assessments
were completed for 30 schools; the results showed clear risks to student health and safety. As a
result, the Council of Ministers allocated US $5 million for repairs in schools with dangerous
structural conditions, supplementing D-RASATI efforts.
Nineteen schools were provided with resin tables and eye wash stations for science laboratories.
MEHE established a new procurement process following the model based on the science lab
equipment procurement process. A proficiency test for 4,065 teachers who use English as the
language of instruction was administered, establishing the baseline for necessary training
activities. The project developed the progress scale teacher observation tool for unbiased
assessments that identify strengths and areas for additional training and mentoring. Finally,
training manuals and modules for teacher training in English, math, biology, chemistry and
physics were developed, and 68 teacher trainers received training on the methodology of
teaching subject matter in English, math, and science.
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