AMMAN — After one and a half years of an unexpected switch to online
education, the educational level of Jordanian students has drastically declined.
In previous coverage, education officials told Jordan News that online
education in the
Kingdom was “immature and largely unsuccessful” and “not an
effective alternative to in-class teaching.”
اضافة اعلان
In an attempt to make up for the drop in educational quality, the
Ministry of Education has launched a compensatory program: Faqed, meaning loss,
which will include all students from grade one to eleven.
Minister of Education Mohammad Abu Qdeis announced in press statements
that the in-class compensatory program will kick off mid-August and will cover
the four main school subjects: mathematics, English, Arabic, and science. The
program follows three consecutive semesters of online education for Jordan’s
students.
“The program will cover the basic pillars that student mostly need.
Manuals will be distributed to students, and teachers will be trained prior to
the program,” the minister said.
The statement comes after the Ministry of Education announced an online
training opportunity for teachers last week. Almost 6,000 teachers signed up on
the online platform, which will “train and cover as
many teachers as possible before the beginning of the first semester.”
Educational expert at the ministry, Khalid
Taqatqa told Jordan News that schools are already in the process of
contacting parents to inform them about the new program, although he personally
believes that there will be a relatively low turnout, especially in schools in remote
places.
“It’s really tough to convince students to
leave their summer holiday and join a compensatory program one whole month
before school starts, unless parents forced their children to join, which is
not desirable at all,” Taqatqa said.
“In addition, temperatures will be in their
peaks, which will definitely be a problem to remote schools with poor
infrastructure,” he added. “Classrooms will be exactly like ovens, which will
make students not want to attend.”
Mayyada Al Jamal, a 43-year-old parent, told
Jordan News that she will only “consider” sending her sixth and fourth grade daughters
to the compensatory program because she’s skeptical of its effectiveness.
“I don’t think that one month is enough time to
make up for a full year and a half,” Jamal said. “It’s definitely better than
nothing though. Also, considering that the program is not compulsory, I don’t
know if it’s worth it or not.”
The Civil Service Bureau said that the
Ministry of Education will handle all the fees and expenses of the program, and each teacher
will be paid approximately 140 dinars as a travel allowance and pocket money for
the month-long course.
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