Higher Education Ministry discusses educational platforms

AMMAN — Higher Education Minister Muhyiddine Touq on Thursday held an expanded meeting online with presidents of Jordanian public and private universities and colleges, in addition to heads of technology and remote learning centres at those universities, according to a ministry statement.

During the meeting, Touq highlighted the importance of implementing the emergency plan to combat the novel coronavirus inside university and college facilities, especially in regards to continuous sanitisation and completely heeding the instructions of the Health Ministry and the authorities.

The participants discussed mechanisms to improve e-education and ways to resolve technical problems that online learning faced during this period, highlighting the importance of implementing remote learning methods while on campus classes are suspended.

They said the implementation should ensure that teaching for the second semester of this academic year continues smoothly and efficiently, whereas practical training for scientific faculties is to be postponed until classes are back to normal or until the summer break, an issue which is will be decided by each educational institution, according to the statement.

The meeting also discussed using global platforms, such as Google Classroom and Zoom, to allow academic staff to communicate with students, in addition to the importance of universities continually coordinating with the Digital Economy and Innovation Ministry.

It also stressed to providers of e-services to ensure that access and use of e-learning platforms is free and available for all.