His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday directed authorities to distribute space heaters to 32,000 classrooms around the country to offset the harsh weather conditions.

The gesture is part of the King's efforts to provide schoolchildren with a suitable learning environment.

Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khalid Touqan said the Royal gesture complements earlier directives by the King to include central heating in the designs of new schools.

Under the ministry's plan for 2006, 50 new school buildings were to be completed.

Since the start of the project, the ministry has so far introduced 284 kindergartens, 50 this year, while 50 others are expected in 2007.

Touqan said the heaters will be delivered to the schools in three stages, starting with 8,500 classrooms located in the coldest areas, to be followed by 19,000 heaters in areas where the winter climate is milder. The remaining 4,500 will be distributed to schools in the rest of the targeted areas.

The King has, in the past few years, launched a series of education-related projects starting with the Jordan Education Initiative, which is based on private-public partnerships and e-learning.

In 1999, King Abdullah directed the education authorities to introduce English and computer studies to the Grade 1 syllabus.

He has also launched the school nutrition programme and another initiative to distribute winter coats to hundreds of thousands of students.

The Jordan Times