The cost of tuition was a major worry for Jordanian student Aya Abu Zaid until she won a scholarship last year from a foundation started by a retired businessman who was the first in his family to go to university.
“The tuition was a disaster,” says Aya, a third-year student of computer engineering at the state-run Jordan University for Science and Technology in the northern city of Irbid.
Her scholarship, from the Kapadia Education Foundation in the US, has given the 20-year old to a chance to complete her bachelor's degree at a time of economic pressure in Jordan and across the Levant.
Aya is one of a tech-savvy generation of young Jordanians of limited means who are eager to improve their situations but lack the educational opportunities more widely available in more advanced nations.
She has a part-time job teaching at a children's academy in Amman and her father, who is a barber, was paying her tuition of $4,500 per year.
It is a huge sum for a family of limited means in Jordan, where annual per capita income is about $4,000.
Local scholarships are available in the kingdom but they are mostly awarded to students whose parents work for the state. Even middle-class families whose income is derived from private jobs struggle to send their children to university.
Aya is the first person in Jordan to receive funding from the Kapadia foundation, which gives priority to students who have done volunteer work and helped others in their societies, particularly women applicants.
Its founder, Pradeep Kapadia, who is from India, started the charity partly because he ran out of money while studying mechanical engineering in the US in the 1970s. The organisation is small but has helped to pay for the education of 500 people in two dozen countries since 2000, using algorithms and software to keep overheads low and minimise bias.
“Everything was done online,” says Aya, describing her scholarship application. “I wrote a motivation letter and explained my situation.”
Since receiving the scholarship, her main cost is the two-hour bus ride between Amman and Irbid. She has kept it down to a manageable $50 a month by arranging her classes so that she needs to travel only three times a week.
“It is a long way back and forth,” says Aya, whose dream is to work in robotics after graduating.
Her background as a volunteer teaching English to children and helping in an old people’s home helped her secure the scholarship.
She also spent 11th grade as an exchange student in Washington state under the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study programme run by the US Department of State, which focuses on countries with a large proportion of Muslims.
As an exchange student, Aya stayed with a single mother and her daughter.
“We became friends and they visited me in Jordan,” she says.
Her volunteer work and exposure abroad may have played a role in getting the scholarship, but it was an 89-year old pharmacist in Jordan who set things in motion.
Georgette Fattaleh, whose pharmacy is next to the barber shop where Aya's father works, was the kingdom’s first female Jordanian pharmacist, and her grandson, Yazan, is the executive director of the Kapadia foundation.
Ms Fattaleh graduated from Damascus University in the 1950s. When she was in her 40s she obtained a master's degree in the United States, and later learnt French.
“She inspires me,” Aya says. “She still goes to her pharmacy every day. She always reads and she still works on improving herself."
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
ABU DHABI CARD
5pm: UAE Martyrs Cup (TB) Conditions; Dh90,000; 2,200m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap; Dh70,000; 1,400m
6pm: UAE Matyrs Trophy (PA) Maiden; Dh80,000; 1,600m
6.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Apprentice Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh100,000; 1,600m
7pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Ladies World Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh125,000; 1,600m
8pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown (PA) Group 1; Dh5,000,000; 1,600m
Stage results
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t
if you go
The flights
Flydubai offers three daily direct flights to Sarajevo and, from June, a daily flight from Thessaloniki from Dubai. A return flight costs from Dhs1,905 including taxes.
The trip
The Travel Scientists are the organisers of the Balkan Ride and several other rallies around the world. The 2018 running of this particular adventure will take place from August 3-11, once again starting in Sarajevo and ending a week later in Thessaloniki. If you’re driving your own vehicle, then entry start from €880 (Dhs 3,900) per person including all accommodation along the route. Contact the Travel Scientists if you wish to hire one of their vehicles.
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MATCH INFO
South Africa 66 (Tries: De Allende, Nkosi, Reinach (3), Gelant, Steyn, Brits, Willemse; Cons: Jantjies 8)
Canada 7 (Tries: Heaton; Cons: Nelson)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Aggro%20Dr1ft
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Harmony%20Korine%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Jordi%20Molla%2C%20Travis%20Scott%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQureos%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E33%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESoftware%20and%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
