New education strategic plan launched for 2018-2022

AMMAN — The Ministry of Education (MoE) in collaboration with the UNESCO Amman office on Tuesday launched the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2022, in line with His Majesty King Abdullah’s vision outlined in his 7th Discussion Paper.

The ceremony, which saw the participation of Education Minister Omar Razzaz, UNESCO Representative to Jordan Constanza Farina and Canadian Ambassador Peter MacDougall, also witnessed the publication of UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report (2017-2018) (see separate story).

“In Jordan, we are very competent in preparing strategies and action plans, especially in the educational sector; but we are still missing the mechanisms for proper implementation, reviewing, monitoring and accountability, which are crucial in achieving success,” said Razzaz, adding that “it is absolutely essential to conduct monitoring and collect feedback to develop active and efficient plans”.

Stressing the importance for all partners to work hand in hand to develop “real partnerships”, the minister said “we need to change the existing culture of finger pointing, in which all actors put the burden on each others’ shoulders instead of being accountable for their actions”.

Anchored in the goals of the National Strategy for Human Resource Development 2016-2025 (HRD), the ESP follows a participatory and inclusive approach, in line with the best international practices, according to Razzaz, who pointed out the need to get direct feedback from the field.

“People working in the MoE directorates know better than anyone else what challenges need to be addressed and the solutions possible to expand quality education possibilities,” he told the audience.

This focus on inclusivity of all actors was echoed by the Canadian ambassador, who said “we are so pleased, as supporters of this strategy, to see the efforts exerted by the Jordanian government and its partners in opening educational opportunities to all children, regardless of their gender or nationality”.

“There is no more important responsibility for us parents and adults than providing a quality education to all children equally in order to enable them to achieve a prosperous future,” MacDougall stated.

He reminded the audience that such landmark achievements come at a serious cost, urging all actors to take part in the cohesive approach to achieve the common goal they shared.

Representatives from the Ministry of Education went on to present the ESP to the audience, summarising the key themes which include the priority work domains, the monitoring and evaluation system, the cost and financing and the partnerships and coordination.

Divided into six sections, the ESP includes prioritised and sequenced strategies and activities, stemming from the goals of the HRD strategy, the officials said, adding that the plan works towards “the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with a specific focus on SDG 4, focused on inclusive, equitable and quality education for all”.

“To ensure the plan’s accordance with the best international practices, we have worked with the UNESCO Amman office and the UNESCO International Institute for Education Planning, who provided us with the technical support to draft a plan inclusive of the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of the Jordanian context,” the officials explained, citing the six domains selected as the pillars of the ESP — early childhood education and development, access and equity, system strengthening, quality, human resources and vocational education. 

Speaking at the event, UNESCO Representative to Jordan Costanza Farina, said: "We celebrate today the ESP as a concrete example of what this powerful alliance of likeminded partners can achieve, and has achieved over the past 10 months.” 

Following a Q&A with the audience, the ceremony witnessed a panel discussion titled, “Partnership and Accountability: Is Jordan meeting the commitments?”, which was moderated by Sami Hourani, founder and CEO of Leader of Tomorrow and FORSA.

The panelists included Samar Dudin, general director of Ruwwad, Aya Khairi, executive director at Petra National Trust, Masa Dalqamoni, CEO of Thaqafaty Educational Group and Malek Abu Granemeh, founder of the “Eye of the Future” initiative.