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Ammon News - A study, conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund's (UNICEF), recommended increasing cash assistance to vulnerable households with children in Grades 6-10 to better cover the direct and opportunity costs of education and promote retention.

In a statement on Tuesday, the agency said that the study, which researched maximizing the impact of cash transfers for vulnerable adolescents in Jordan, made key recommendations to overcome barriers facing children.

These recommendations include: extending the cash assistance programme to cover vulnerable secondary education students; ramping up learning support in core subjects across all grade levels; providing adolescent girls and children living with disabilities transportation support that best meets their needs and strengthening the capacity of schools to monitor attendance and use referral pathways to support children to stay in school.

The study also showed that UNICEF's cash transfer programme has played a key role in helping children access education.

"UNICEF invests heavily in interventions aimed at improving children’s access to quality education to improve learning outcomes," said Shairose Mawji, Deputy Representative, UNICEF Jordan. "The long-term effects of dropping out-of-school, which have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, deprives children of skills they need to succeed in life and traps them in a cycle of poverty, adversely impacting the country’s economic growth."

"UNICEF is committed to working with the Government of Jordan and partners to ensure that every girl and boy has equal access to quality education," said Mawji. "Thanks to our donors, and through the Hajati programme, UNICEF has provided cash assistance to 14,000 of the most vulnerable families to enable children to access quality education and grow to their full potential."

Basic education in Jordan is free and compulsory for all children, the agency noted, adding that Syrian and non-Syrian refugees are integrated into Jordanian schools, including over 200 double-shift schools that accommodate Syrian refugees in the afternoon shift.