Gov’t seeks better quality of Islamic law graduates

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Sunday approved recommendations by the higher education and the awqaf ministry to improve the outcomes of Sharia (Islamic law) majors at Jordanian universities.

The Council of Ministers referred the issue to the Higher Education Council and the Higher Education Accreditation Commission to take the necessary measures, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The suggestions, which target Sharia colleges at the bachelor's degree level, aim at improving the level of students that graduate from these faculties through increasing the minimum admission score to 80 per cent in the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) as of the 2017/2018 academic year.

Under the plan, the Sharia programme will see additional courses bein taught such as political science, history, law, modern ideology and sociology. 

The recommendations included adding at least one course related to Islamic education as a university requirement to raise awareness on religion, moderation and acceptance of others, in a bid to counter extremism.

Higher Education Minister Adel Tweisi said that all are aware of the importance of Sharia students as future community leaders, noting that these recommendations aim at encouraging students through scholarships, with high averages at Tawjihi to join Sharia colleges.

Tweisi stressed there will be incentives for Sharia graduates in terms of immediate employment and high salaries.

These procedures aim at enabling Sharia colleges to produce community leaders that can positively affect the society, the minister said, noting that the current number of Sharia students exceeds 12,500, and that there are some 10,000 employment applications at the Civil Service Bureau from Sharia graduates.