The Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Wajeeh Aweys, said that the “Tawjihi” high school exam system is a vexing issue for the decision-maker, and it must be subject to reconsideration, especially since it no longer measures the student’s ability at all, revealing that it was amended during the next two years, as The “Tawjihi” GPA will be a requirement for university admission, not to select a major.
Owais revealed at the media forum organized by the Center for the Protection and Freedom of Journalists with the support of Zain Company, that the students will undergo a preparatory year at the university, which will qualify them to enter specializations according to their abilities and inclinations, indicating that no high school certificate from Turkey or Arab countries will be equivalent to it as of September 1. next September.
In the dialogue moderated by colleague Nidal Mansour, Owais stressed that education in Jordan has witnessed a decline during the past years, and that the Ministry of Education is working to raise the quality of education in public schools, which requires good training of teachers, in addition to improving the infrastructure in schools. And the development of the curriculum – which has actually begun -, alerting to the economic and financial challenges facing his ministry, including its need to appoint 10,000 male and female teachers, but the ministry’s budget does not allow for the appointment of more than 4,000 male and female teachers.
Owais explained that these challenges require the Ministry to resort to additional education to fill the shortage in the number of male and female teachers, stressing that this solution is not the best.
Owais added that the response of the Ministry of Education to the repercussions of the Corona pandemic was remarkable, and that the ministry had developed a short-term plan, and a long-term plan to compensate for the educational loss that could be compensated, especially in the subjects of Arabic, English, and mathematics for the first grades.
Owais pointed out that early childhood education is the most important stage of education because it builds the personality of children, but it needs the presence of distinguished nurseries and kindergartens, with trained teachers, a good curriculum, and a good environment, expressing that the ministry falls short in this area, as it covers only 34%. of children in (KG2), while the private sector also covers 30%.
And he indicated that the ministry has developed a five-year plan aimed at absorbing the remaining 88,000 children in (KG2), and after the first three years of the plan, the Ministry will begin to absorb (KG1) students, calling on the private sector to work on establishing kindergartens, calling on the government to provide Facilitations for the private sector to play this role, through tax exemptions, and the provision of land plots.
With regard to the issue of the teachers’ union, Owais said that so far, no written judicial decision has been received regarding the teachers’ union, and that there are cases still being considered in the courts, noting that the legal period for the term of the union council, which is 4 years, has ended, and that after the judiciary has completed its tasks, every incident will have Talk about the teachers’ union and its elections.
He stressed that after the issuance of the Parties Law, especially Article (20/a), students have the right to practice partisan work and express their opinions on campus without accountability if they do not harm others, noting that the ministry has finished setting up a system that frames the relationship between students and the university administration, and that it has Raise this order to the Prime Minister.
He added that the Ministry of Education and the Curriculum Development Center had developed an enrichment and educational material to promote freedom of thought and expression among students, and that it would be taught to tenth and eleventh graders.
Owais acknowledged the existence of stratification in education, and that it cannot be denied, saying, “Some foreign programs in private schools graduate students at an advanced level who outperform their peers in government schools.”
He added that private schools are subject to the oversight of the ministry, and those schools cannot raise annual fees more than the permissible and agreed-upon limit of 5%, stressing that there are many violations related to fees, transferring students from one school to another, and complaints from teachers in the private sector that are submitted to The ministry is dealt with immediately, and a direct investigation is opened.
Regarding the incident of the murder of the student Iman Irsheed on the campus of a university, a case that formed a public opinion, Owais confirmed that this case is the first of its kind in Jordanian universities, and that the Ministry of Higher Education held two meetings with the university administration, and developed a vision for how to control entry and exit to the campus. Universities.
As for harassment issues, Owais said that harassment exists in all institutions in the world, not only in Jordan, and the danger is that an official or a university professor use his authority to do this act, stressing that there are mechanisms to deal with such issues, and that they are being investigated, Anyone involved in it is exempted from his work, which is what happened recently in a university and in the Ministry of Education.
He noted that the merger of the Ministries of Education and Higher Education will take place after taking many measures, most notably reducing the tasks of the Ministry of Higher Education by giving some of its powers entrusted to the Higher Education Council for Universities, including admission policies, explaining that a plan has been drawn up in the Higher Education Council to change admission policies as of From the next year, the full powers of admission will be transferred after another year to universities.
Owais called on the able Jordanians to donate to build and maintain the schools, recalling that a fatwa issued by the Ifta Department called on the able to donate to build schools, similar to building mosques.