AMMAN— Minister of Education, Azmi Mahafzah stated that the
rate of learning poverty in Jordan has increased from 52.5 percent before the
COVID-19 pandemic to over 60 percent, Al-Mamlaka TV reported.
اضافة اعلان
During an interview on Tuesday, Mahafzah noted that learning
poverty is defined as a situation where a 10-year-old student, typically in the
fourth-grade primary, does not understand or comprehend a paragraph from an
Arabic text.
He added that compulsory education ensures that students
continue studying until the tenth grade, and it is mandatory and legally
impermissible to have students out of education at this age. However, he
acknowledged that education has declined in the last decade, leading to
learning poverty.
The Minister pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has
exacerbated the rate of learning poverty, with significant and devastating
impacts on learning, not only in Jordan but worldwide. He highlighted that
Jordan has faced significant challenges in education, including factors such as
lack of teacher training, school dropout rates, and lack of discipline in
attendance.
Mahafzah emphasized the importance of addressing students'
weaknesses early on, stressing that 10-year-old students should not be excluded
from education but rather provided with remedial plans before reaching the
tenth grade.
He explained that students who attend kindergarten before
entering school tend to perform better, as there is an assessment using a
student assessment tool to determine their abilities. This assessment is
conducted in the second semester of the first grade and in the first semester
of the second and third grades to help teachers determine students' levels.
Regarding students in the weak level, Mahafzah stated that
they constitute the lowest 20 percent of students in the grade, and remedial
plans are developed to address their weaknesses in reading and basic arithmetic
skills.
He clarified that there are no exams for the first three
grades, nor is there retention until the fourth grade. Retention beyond that
grade is based on either achievement or surpassing a certain absence rate,
although schools typically do not resort to retention. Consequently, weak
students who may not master reading continue their education, leading to
tenth-grade students who cannot read or write. While their percentage is not
high, the presence of even one such student is a serious matter.
Ministry of
Education’s remedial plan
Mahafzah mentioned that immediately after the COVID-19
crisis, the Ministry of Education began implementing a remedial plan to address
reading and arithmetic weaknesses among students through the Intervention
Program, which has been implemented this semester.
Mahafzah also confirmed that attendance and absence are
monitored daily in all Jordanian schools, with records sent to the ministry.
Any discrepancies between the recorded data and the actual situation are
accounted for, with responsibility falling on school principals and teachers.
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