AMMAN — Every year, students spend
hours studying and reviewing for the annual Tawjihi exam, which determines a
graduate’s options for university and employment.
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This year, the pandemic and ensuing
restrictions, including a rule that students who test positive cannot take the
examination, have made the experience even more challenging.
The
Ministry of Education’s Secretary
General Najwa Qbeilat confirmed to Jordan News that students who test positive
for COVID-19 within 13 days of the examination, scheduled to take place between
June 24 and July 15, will be unable to take the national test.
The students can take the test during
December instead, she explained.
Additionally, students who test
positive but quarantine for 10 days if they are asymptomatic and 13 days if
they have symptoms before the exam date, can still take the exam.
Tala Jaber, a student who will be
taking the Tawjihi exam this year, said that the rule is “not fair”. She
suggested that students who test positive for COVID-19 close to the test date
should be able to take it in isolation, rather than wait until December. “It’s
not good”, she said.
Students aren’t required to take a
PCR test to take the Tawjihi exam. However, if they experience symptoms or come
into contact with someone with COVID-19 during the weeks prior to the exam,
they’re encouraged to tell their teachers and get tested.
Jaber suggested that knowing that
they will be unable to take the test on time if they test positive might
discourage students from getting tested at all, even if they experience
symptoms of COVID-19.
“Every senior right now is worried
about the exams in general,” wrote Hala Najdawi, who is also taking the exam
this year, in a message to
Jordan News. “I don’t really think they care about
catching the virus.”
The student pointed out that since
many Jordanians have either already had COVID-19, been vaccinated, or both,
fears about the disease itself are abating. “So I think it’s the least of their
worries at the moment,” she said.
“Don’t forget about the precautions
we’ll be taking while going to do our exams,” Najdawi added. “We’ll be wearing
our masks the whole time, we can’t really hug each other or say hi by handshaking,
or just be close to anyone, even if they’re coronavirus free.”
The Ministry of Education has issued
official guidelines regarding Tawjihi and COVID-19 safety precautions. They
encouraged students to “stay at home and reduce mixing with others” prior to
the exam, and to observe health guidelines, including wearing masks and social
distancing.
Students who have symptoms of the
virus and visit the hospital should inform the doctor that they are students
planning to take Tawjihi “in order to follow the instructions of the Ministry
of Health in this regard.”
In addition to the COVID-19
restrictions, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) also recently
announced that they will ban instant messaging apps in the schools where
students sit for the examinations.
The ban begins shortly before the
examination starts each day and stops afterwards. It is intended to prevent
cheating or leaked exam answers. But as Jaber told
Jordan News, this
restriction takes place “every year.”
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