AMMAN (AFP) — Jordan's Queen Rania said on Tuesday the kingdom needs to create a job every seven minutes to stop unemployment from increasing, urging educational reform to meet labour market requirements.
"In order to prevent unemployment rates from rising in Jordan, we have to create 80,000 jobs annually, or, in other words, a job every seven minutes," Rania told the opening of a conference in Amman on unemployment.
In the country of nearly six million people, the official unemployment rate runs at 14.3 percent, while unofficial estimates place it at 25 percent.
"Seventy percent of Jordan's population are under 30. As they grow up, they need a creative, diverse and developing job market," said Rania, wife of King Abdullah II.
But she added that educational systems in Jordan and other Arab countries need to be reformed.
"How can our children take part in a competitive international market if their education does not meet market needs?" she said.
"We can't change our path unless we change the quality of our education."
In February, a World Bank report said the quality of education in the Middle East and North Africa has not kept up with pressing economic challenges and called for reform in the sector.
"The relationship between education and economic growth in the region has remained weak, and the divide between education and unemployment has not been bridged," said the report, which was launched in Amman.
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