Students walk on the campus of Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan. CUI HAIPEI / CHINA DAILY
Pursuing a strategic pivot eastward, Jordan has placed education at the forefront of its engagement with China amid the evolving Middle Eastern landscape. Backed by a comprehensive higher education and vocational training system, the country has rolled out multiple programs to cultivate youth talent and cement long-term cooperation.Yarmouk University, Jordan’s second-largest public university situated in Irbid, has unveiled plans to construct an on-campus complex called China Village. Focused on Chinese language education, the compound will serve as an integrated hub showcasing Chinese culture, state-of-the-art technologies and comprehensive academic resources.Malek Alsharairi, president of the university, said that Yarmouk is striving to build Jordan’s most robust academic ties with China, supported by China-related full disciplinary coverage ranging from medical sciences and fine arts to engineering, architecture, drama and music for all enrolled students.“We will launch Chinese language electives open to all students regardless of majors, allowing learners from every faculty to access language training,” he said. “The upcoming China Village will be a fully functional facility covering China’s technology, economic development, governance and cultural heritage to support interdisciplinary research. It boasts broader functions than Confucius Institutes and acts as a permanent local showcase for China’s innovations.”Several months ago, Yarmouk sent a delegation to Shanghai Theatre Academy for exchanges, Alsharairi said. He added that he had instructed the Fine Arts Faculty to incorporate Chinese opera and theatrical arts into its existing teaching modules, with a long-term objective to launch a standalone full undergraduate concentration dedicated to Chinese theater.Under his plan, each faculty within China Village will develop customized China-themed curricula anchored in the unified framework. “Architecture students will attend exclusive modules on Chinese architectural design. Meanwhile, the music and theater departments will roll out matching courses featuring traditional Chinese performing arts, and the Faculty of Engineering will spearhead campus exhibitions and promotional displays of China’s industrial and innovative technologies,” he said.The president noted that Jordan’s security environment across the Levant region offers unparalleled market access for Chinese technologies on display at Yarmouk. Irbid lies a two-hour drive from Damascus, where Syria is pushing forward large-scale reconstruction of infrastructure, education and public services after years of conflict.
