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12 Oct 2026

 The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has renewed its strategic partnership with Tkiyet Um Ali by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at expanding the school nutrition safety net across public schools for the 2026/2027 academic year.
The agreement was signed by Minister of Education Dr. Azmi Mahafzah and Tkiyet Um Ali Director General Samer Balkar.
Speaking at the signing ceremony on Thursday, Dr. Mahafzah emphasized that investing in students' health and nutrition directly fuels their educational success and bolsters the nation's human capital.
He noted that partnering with Tkiyet Um Ali reflects the ministry’s dedication to fostering equitable, health-conscious school environments where every child has a fair chance to learn and thrive. Addressing nutritional deficits in classrooms, he added, is critical to raising academic achievement and eliminating the fatigue that holds students back.
For his part, Balkar stressed that access to adequate, wholesome food is a fundamental human right. He affirmed that supporting students in the classroom protects them from the adverse physical and developmental impacts of nutritional poverty.
Expressing pride in scaling up the initiative alongside the ministry, Balkar noted that the program’s real impact is seen daily in the students' energy and engagement in class.
The partnership represents a student-centered developmental approach rooted in dignity and holistic growth. Building on the success of its initial rollout during the 2025/2026 school year—which served 3,811 students across 20 public schools in Jerash, Balqa, and Karak with over 547,000 distributed date bars—the initiative is substantially widening its reach this year.
Under the renewed framework, coverage will expand to approximately 8,548 students across 35 public schools in five governorates: Jerash, Irbid, Balqa, Karak, and Zarqa, following the addition of schools in Irbid and Zarqa.
Field assessments and impact evaluations have demonstrated a tangible improvement in students' daily lives, marked by noticeable declines in hunger and morning fatigue, alongside significant gains in classroom focus, attendance rates, and overall academic retention.