Education Ministry sponsors regional finals of Lenabtaker youth entrepreneurship competition
Amman, Sept 5 (Petra) — The Ministry of Education and Human
Resources Development launched on Saturday the closing activities for
the seventh edition of the “Lenabtaker Competition” in
Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Youth, organized by Entro Gate,
alongside the graduation of the fifth cohort from the “Lenabtaker”
business incubator.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Education and Human Resources
Development during the event, patronized by Ministry
Secretary-General Sahar Al-Shakhaterah, President of Al-Hussein
Technical University (HTU) Ismail Al-Hinti highlighted the
significant expansion of the competition to include participants from
several Arab nations, expressing his delight at HTU hosting the event
for the fifth consecutive year.
Al-Hinti noted that the competition began as a national initiative
launched by Entro Gate before growing to cover more than 12 Arab
countries, bringing together thousands of young people, youth
entrepreneurs, and startups.
Concepts of entrepreneurship and innovation are an essential
component of building critical thinking and shaping the future rather
than a marginal matter, Al-Hinti said. He pointed to HTU’s experience
where every student undergoes an obligatory “Entrepreneurship and
Innovation Bootcamp” as part of their study plan, adding that this
approach led to the university incubator graduating more than 100
technology startups, with valuations of some companies founded by
alumni in Silicon Valley reaching tens of millions of dollars.
Samar Obeidat, founder and chief executive officer of Entro Gate,
stated that investing in human capital represents the greatest
investment for the future, highlighting Jordan’s pride in uniting
youth across the Arab world around a shared entrepreneurial vision.
Obeidat explained that the competition, which launched seven years
ago as a national initiative to shift education from rote learning to
empowering students to think, experiment, and innovate, has grown
beyond Jordan’s borders into a regional platform bringing together
innovators and educators from across the region.
She added that this edition is the result of an extended strategic
collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Human Resources
Development, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship,
the Crown Prince Foundation (CPF) represented by HTU and TechWorks,
and the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB), along with a strategic
partnership this year with Palestine’s Ministry of Education and
Higher Education.
The final phase this year welcomed 53 qualifying teams following an
eight-month training journey during which participants transformed
challenges across eight key sectors into entrepreneurial business
models to present before international judging panels, Obeidat said.
Obeidat paid special tribute to the remote participation of teams
from the Gaza Strip, calling their involvement a remarkable
achievement demonstrating the resilience and creativity of Arab youth
despite difficult circumstances. She emphasized that the true measure
of the competition’s success lies not in the number of teams or
projects, but in the number of minds transformed and students who now
view challenges through the lens of solutions.
The journey continues beyond announcing winners through the
Lenabtaker (Let’s Innovate) business incubator established five years
ago for youth aged 12 to 17, offering technical support and training
to help winning student innovators turn their ideas and prototypes
into real-world ventures, Obeidat noted.
The seventh edition of the competition in 2026 saw participation from
21 Jordanian public schools presenting 34 entrepreneurial projects
across seven governorates, including Amman, Irbid, Zarqa, Salt,
Mafraq, Petra, and Aqaba, with eight public school teams qualifying
for the regional final stage.
Following a tour of the exhibition showcasing projects from the fifth
incubator cohort, Al-Shakhaterah honored the participants and liaison
officers. The incubator included 10 entrepreneurial teams comprising
over 35 male and female students from public and private schools
across Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon.
