His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for an archaeological restoration centre, affiliated with Balqa Applied University’s Jerash Technical College.

During the ceremony, attended by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, Balqa Applied University President Ahmad Ajlouni gave a briefing on the project, which will extend over 54 dunums of land, noting that the first phase, which included building the infrastructure with a cost of nearly JD1 million, is complete, while the second phase will be finished towards the end of 2024, at a total cost of JD5.4 million.

Ajlouni said the college will offer specialties related to the tourism sector in Jerash, expecting high employability rates among graduates.

He added that the centre will offer diploma programmes in archaeological rehabilitation and restoration, tour guiding, tourism marketing, and hotel management, as well as a bachelors’ programme in archaeological rehabilitation and restoration.

Ajlouni expected teaching at the college to commence in mid-2025, with 500 students in the first batch, and the number of students forecast to increase to 4,500-5,000 by the end of the fourth and last phase.

Royal Hashemite Court Chief Yousef Issawi, Director of the Office of His Majesty Jafar Hassan, and Education and Higher Education Minister Azmi Mahafzah attended the ceremony.