AMMAN — A group of
unemployed fresh graduates specialized in media launched a campaign that objects
to and condemns a July 30 government decision to allow and give priority to
non-media graduates to teach media subjects at schools and universities. The
decision, activists say, will contribute to their
unemployment.
اضافة اعلان
Bashar Qashaam, one of the
campaigners, told
Jordan News that “it is our right to find jobs, especially
in light of the difficult economic circumstances facing the country.
Unemployment rates are rising, s are poverty rates.” Some of the activists
graduated as many as five years ago and have yet to find a job, he added.
“It is our right to teach
this subject,” he said, underlining that businesses in the sector require prior
experience.
Qashaam stressed that “our
opposition is peaceful, we are not looking to any aggressive act in the near
future. Our only option is organizing a protest if no one responds to our
demands.”
“For now, we have promised by
MPs and high rankings officials that they will fulfill our demands,” the
campaigner said.
Sami Qadi, another activist,
told
Jordan News that “we demand the government to be fair about this
matter. We are more qualified for this job than teachers from other educational
disciplines.”
Qadi lamented previous
governments’ lack of commitment to appointing media graduates to teach media
classes at schools and universities despite their agreement that “we are the
most efficient at this, and it helps to reduce unemployment”.
“We, as journalism and media
graduates, are waiting for a response after addressing our demands to many
officials from the
Ministry of Education, the Lower House of Parliament, the
minister of state for media affairs, the director of the Media Authority, and
every decision maker,” the activist said.
Minister of State for Media
Affairs Sakher Dudin, the government spokesperson, during a June 30 seminar at
the University of Petra announced that “media education” will become a basic
subject taught at Jordanian schools.
Dudin, who is also the
government spokesperson, said during the seminar that the government contracted
with the Jordan Media Institute to train 3,000 teachers to teach media
education.
Despite several attempts by
Jordan News, the minister was not immediately
available for comment on the graduates’ campaign.
For his part, MP Saleh Armouti told
Jordan News that “I asked a question of
the speaker of the Lower House of Parliament regarding teaching the subject of media
education in schools, and if it is true that the government contracted the Jordan
Media Institute to train 3,000 teachers (who do not hold a media degree) to
teach this subject in schools.”
Armouti added that he had not yet
received a response to his question, and that he would raise the issue during
the next ordinary session of Parliament.
“I will follow up this issue because it
is an important matter that we should not be ignoring,” he concluded.
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