Epidemiologists expect
that
COVID-19 is receding, thanks to an aggressive vaccination campaign and the
fact that hundreds of thousands have been affected and have developed immunity.
اضافة اعلان
The day-after strategy
is what counts, however, and priorities should be set now. Yes, we need the
political reforms train to set off on an irreversible journey, the economy to
recover, the public sector to see a makeover, and industries to prosper and
generate jobs, and the tourism sector to stand on its feet, but few would
disagree that the education sector should top the scale of priorities in the
post-
COVID era.
The rationale is very
simple; education is the catalyst of development and progress, and, in Jordan,
it was deteriorating alarmingly even before COVID-19. What the pandemic did was twist the knife in
the wound.
The declining quality
of the three levels of education — basic, secondary, and college — along with
the vocational and technical branch, has been felt for decades, but little has
been done and few have cared.
Examples abound.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD)
student performance index, in 2018, 15-year-olds in Jordan scored 419 points in
reading literacy compared to an average of 487 points in OECD member countries.
In science, it was 429 points, compared to an average of 489 points; and in
mathematics, it was 400, against an average of 489 points.
A more serious
revelation was in 2014. According to a Ministry of Education study done that year,
100,000 pupils in grades 1–3 could not read, constituting 20 percent of the
total number of students in this category.
A position paper
issued recently by the National Center for Human Rights says that the online
education experience has had many gaps that even touched on the constitutional
rights of Jordanians, particularly the gap between the have and the have-nots,
in terms of access to electronic devices and the online education
platform.
The center’s paper
stressed that education has witnessed an alarming decline brought about by the
harsh economic situation and “other sources of frustration,” citing as aspects
of the phenomenon the “low quality of the educational process’ outcomes …, the
poor knowledge and performance of teachers, and the fact that most school
buildings in Jordan’s cities and villages are old, lacking the elements that
facilitate a sound learning process.”
In fact, we need not
an in-depth study to realize that the situation is very grave. Just take some
minutes to browse social media posts and you will see why we have lost grip on
the younger generation. It is not their fault, of course, but it is the fault
of planners and decision makers, who have seen changes unfold before their own
eyes and did not respond properly and proportionately to them. What do you
expect from a child or an adolescent receiving formal education in a crowded
classroom and a shabby school building, and taught using 20th century methods,
at a time when he or she has the world at their fingertips through a smart
phone and internet connection?
The diagnosis is
there, and no doubt it is accurate. What we badly need is the efficacious
remedy: a well-planned, goal-oriented, and time-bound action plan, one that is
devised and evaluated collectively by all stakeholders and evaluated and
adjusted in a timely and effective manner.
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