On Monday, the Higher Education Council held a session chaired by the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Wajeh Owais. During the session, the following was done:

First: The Higher Education Council discussed the report of the Civil Service Commission, which includes indicators of the reality of the supply and demand process for specializations in the civil service for holders of university qualifications and a comprehensive diploma for community colleges for the year 2022. The Council decided to reduce admission to all stagnant and saturated disciplines mentioned in this report by 50%. In all official Jordanian universities for the next academic year 2022/2023, in accordance with the criteria for special accreditation.

Second: Approval of the placement of the Commission for Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions and Quality Assurance, which includes stopping admission to (42) majors in official Jordanian universities for the next academic year 2022/2023 as a result of breaching the standards of special accreditation, or exceeding the absorptive capacities.

Third: Starting to implement a gradual time frame to reduce the number of students accepted in medical specialties (medicine, dentistry, doctor of pharmacy, pharmacy) in public universities starting from the next academic year 2022/2023, in order to reach the maximum permissible number of students accepted according to the absorptive capacity specials in each specialty.

Fourth: Directing successful students in the General Secondary Certificate for the academic year 2022 to enroll in the technical specializations required in the labor market, which are offered for admission at the diploma and bachelor levels in all universities and intermediate university colleges, where these specializations will be announced through a special link listed on the website of the Coordination Unit Consolidated acceptance.

Fifth: Directing public and private universities and colleges to do the following:

1) Creating new specializations required for the local, regional and global labor market, and emphasizing the previous decisions of the Council regarding not approving the creation of any new specialties that are stagnant or saturated in the labor market, or that are duplicated in universities.

2) Reconsidering and developing study plans for all disciplines to include the required functional skills and knowledge areas that enable university graduates to obtain international professional certificates in some disciplines, which will increase their chances of obtaining suitable job opportunities.

3) Continuing to work on developing the university’s requirements, including the required courses that are compatible with the requirements of the labor market, namely: leadership and innovation, leadership and social responsibility, life skills, digital skills, communication skills (English, Arabic), environment and sustainability.

Sixth: Requesting middle university colleges, and public and private Jordanian universities to provide the Higher Education Council with annual reports that include the numbers of graduate students from each university/university college and their employment rate inside and outside the Kingdom, distributed according to specializations.