AMMAN — The
Civil Service Bureau (CSB) decision last week to no longer accept certain
university majors, labeled as “idle”, has caused confusion among students who
already study these specializations and those awaiting the Tawjihi (general
secondary education certificate examination) results, expected to be announced
soon, so they can apply for higher studies.
اضافة اعلان
Head of the CSB,
Sameh Al-Nasser, announced that the bureau will stop hiring graduates who
registered, after 2020, to study for 39 majors classified as idle.
These majors
include political science, philosophy, sociology, foreign languages, teaching,
archaeology, banking sciences, tourism studies, marketing, hotel management,
journalism, business administration, environmental studies, and accounting.
Nasser said that
the bureau is required by law to publish a list of idle majors in the first
quarter of each year, and that applications for employment will be accepted or
denied accordingly.
Khaled Tayseer, a
student who finished his high school and Tawjihi exams hoping for a score that
would enable him to study law, is now concerned this major may be labeled idle
soon, dashing his dream of studying law.
Higher Education
Council spokesman
Muhannad Al-Khatib told
Jordan News that the council
will discuss the CSB’s announcement on idle majors next Monday.
He said that it
was difficult for the council to eliminate idle majors all at once, since its
decisions are not purely academic, but take into account social and cultural
factors. He added that the council will significantly reduce enrollment in idle
majors this year, and encourage universities to introduce new and required
majors.
Education expert
Khalid Tqatqah said that the bureau’s announcement is important and that a
long-term plan is needed to deal with this challenge.
He explained that
some students prefer to study idle majors because of the society’s perception
or of the low tuition costs, as well as the fact that often they lack
sufficient knowledge and guidance to make the right career choice.
Tqatqah also said
that it is important for the media to coordinate with universities to promote
certain majors. Parents, he said, should also play a role in guiding their
children to make the right choice.
The head of
Worker’s House, Hamada Abu Nijmeh, told
Jordan News that the
announcement by the bureau only indicates the public sector’s labor needs — the
sector cannot absorb more than 8,000 graduates annually — but has failed to
point to the labor needs of the private sector, which represents more than 60
percent of Jordan’s labor market.
Still, Abu Nijmeh
admitted that education policies and programs failed to take into account the
real labor market needs, despite the fact that “we had known for years about
idle majors and saturated sectors”.
He said that vocational
training programs have not reached the level that encourages young people to
join and that the working environment in many occupations does not meet decent
requirements.
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