Jordan opens schools to Iraqi refugees

AMMAN, Jordan, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Jordan has opened the doors of its schools to thousands of Iraqi refugee children, regardless of their legal status in the country, CNN reported Thursday.

While the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are up to 250,000 school-age Iraqi children in Jordan, the charity Save the Children estimates just 21,000 of them have enrolled for classes, the report said.

Many Iraqis first enrolled their children in private schools in Jordan but when the money ran out, the education stopped, the report said. Many of the Iraqi students have missed as much as four years of school, meaning they will also be delayed getting into the work force, CNN said.

The influx into the public school system is creating some strains. Principal Sanaa Abu Harb of a girls' school in Amman said 20 percent of her 700 students are from Iraq and 40 Iraqi girls are on a waiting list.

"We need more teachers here, more resources, more buildings, more chairs for all Iraqi students and our students," Harb told the network.