Independent centre to handle curricula development — minister

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Sunday approved the mandating reasons for the by-law of the national centre for developing curricula to be sent to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The centre will be tasked with updating curricula and examinations of preschool, primary and secondary grades, in line with the Jordanian educational philosophy based on Jordanian religious and national constants.  

Education Minister Omar Razzaz was quoted by Petra as saying that establishing the centre is part of a comprehensive plan to improve the education system in line with guidelines set by the National Strategy for Human Resources Development. 

Razzaz stressed the ministry's keenness on consulting various entities including the legislative authority, civil society institutions and universities, as well as on holding dialogues with experts, parents, and the Jordan Teachers Association to discuss all aspects of the educational process and ways to improve the quality of its outcomes.

At a press conference, the minister outlined the strategy's main points for all grades, including academic and vocational fields, schools' capacities and environment and their use of technology. 

As for the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi), the education minister underlined the debate over a suggestion to shift to the one-session examination system.

Razzaz stressed the ministry’s preparedness to switch to the new system as of 2018, but there is a need to train teachers on the new Tawjihi syllabi and teachers’ guidebooks.

He said that the ministry is studying changes to the grading system such as the use of weighted average pattern to determine students’ capabilities and tasking higher education institutions and the Accreditation Commission to choose suitable majors for students.

The ministry will conduct examinations for third grade students as of 2018 in order to evaluate their reading, writing and calculation skills and draft plans following the outcomes of the exams.