Queen Rania Visits Balqa, Inaugurates Ministry of Education's Learning Resource Center

July 15, 2002

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - Salt) As part of her efforts targeted towards reaching out to and communicating with the local community, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah visited the Salt Secondary High School for Girls and inaugurated the Ministry of Education’s Learning Resource Center in Balqa Governorate.

During the school visit, Queen Rania toured examination halls, and met with students sitting for Tawjihi examination. Queen Rania stressed the importance of focusing education on the much-needed skills as well as upgrading the level of education to better meet the challenges of today’s changing world.

The Salt Secondary School for Girls, established in 1921, is the oldest secondary school in Jordan, with 480 students. The two-floor building has, in addition to teaching halls and classrooms, a library and a fully equipped computer lab with 20 computers.

In a further step emphasizing the importance of quality education, Queen Rania visited the Ministry of Education’s Learning Resource Center, which aims at upgrading the skills of the Ministry of Education’s teachers through the elimination of computer illiteracy as well as activating teachers’ role in the overall educational process.

The center also works towards raising awareness on the importance of education among students and further promotes it as a tool to widen their opportunities and improve their interpersonal skills.

Queen Rania toured the biology, chemistry, physics, and computer labs. The Center, which is one of 12 across the country, caters to the wider Balqa Governorate.

Also, during the Salt visit, Queen Rania visited the Salt Museum and toured its halls where she stressed the importance of preserving the unique architectural heritage the city is well-known for and noted the importance of working towards attracting more tourists and investors into the city.