AMMAN — The percentage of children under 15 years
old will drop from 33.1 percent in 2020 to 23.8 percent in 2040 according to
recent population projections, alleviating expenses on
education, health, and
other services for Jordanian families and the state budget, according to the
Jordan News Agency, Petra.
اضافة اعلان
In this scenario, the decline in dependency rates in
Jordanian families will be cost-effective, making room for investment in better
quality services for children, Secretary-General of the
Higher Population Council (HPC) Abla Amawi said on Saturday.
According to a statement on the occasion World Children's
Day, under the slogan "A better future for every child", Amawi
pointed out that the proportion of children under the age of 18 in Jordan
amounted to 40.2 percent of the total population in 2020, while population
projections showed that the percentage of children under 15 will decrease as a
result of an expected decrease in birth rate.
Jordan, she added, has made great strides in promoting
children's rights and child development, which is evident by indicators such as
an increased enrollment rate in various stages of education, reaching 41.1
percent for kindergarten enrollment, 97.9 percent for the elementary stage, and
77.5 percent for secondary education in the academic year 2019/2020.
On gender equality in education, Jordan has also maintained
a small gap between boys and girls in primary school, while the percentage of
boys enrolled in high school is less than girls.
Despite that, there are some challenges in the education
field, Amawi indicated. A joint
Ministry of Education and
UNICEF study titled
"Jordan Country Report on Out-of-School Children" revealed that
112,016 children in the 6–15 age group in the academic year 2017/2018 were out
of school. Out-of-school girls in the 6–11 group constituted 2.3 percent, while
1.6 percent of their male counterparts in the same age group were not enrolled
in school.
According to Amawi, the effects of the cumulative numbers of
dropouts are reflected in the educational level of the workers in the Jordanian
economy. Fifty percent of the workers do not hold a secondary education
certificate, figures showed. Other challenges include child labor, child
marriage, juvenile delinquency, and the persistence of the cycle of poverty,
she added.
On the health front, Jordan has come a long way, Amawi
underlined, noting that population and family health surveys pointed to a
decrease in the mortality rate for children under five and a decrease in the
infant mortality rate. Furthermore, the percentage of children aged 12–23
months old who have received all their basic vaccinations has spiked.
Major health challenges include the prevalence of anemia
among Jordanian children, where 1 in 3 children between six months old and 6
years old suffers from the condition. Moreover, feeding practices for only 23
percent of children in Jordan aged 6–23 months meet the minimum standards, she
added.
On the 2021 Kids Rights Index, Jordan ranked 73rd out of 182
countries around the world. The index, issued by the KidsRights foundation,
offers an overview of each country’s performance in the field of children's
rights.
As for the effects on the
COVID-19 pandemic on children, she
said that despite the low rate of infection among children under 18 in Jordan,
which amounted to 17.7 percent (until November 16), the indirect effects were
significant on the children.
According to a UNICEF study entitled "Social and
Economic Challenges Facing the Most Vulnerable Children, Youth and their
Parents in Jordan During the COVID-19 Pandemic", 23 percent of sick
children during the pandemic did not receive the necessary medical care, 25
percent of families' children were unable to access national online education
platforms, and only 31 percent of families were able to get internet at home.
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