New Tawjihi measures to establish ‘more just’ system — Razzaz

AMMAN – The General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) will witness a “quantum leap” in the coming few years, taking into account students’ individual abilities and preferences, according to Education Minister Omar Razzaz. 

During a meeting with journalists on Sunday, he noted that using the same evaluation standards for all students was “unfair” and “illogical”, adding that this had prompted the ministry to take several measures to modify the Tawjihi’s grading system.

The new plan includes the cancellation of the pass/fail classification in a bid to direct students to paths and specialisations that better reflect their potential and personal aspirations, as well as the introduction of the percentile system, which assesses the value of a student’s grades. 

“For instance, a student from Bseira District who got 87 per cent in the Tawjihi might be the highest achieving in his region. Therefore, he might be eligible to study medicine and come back to serve the district,” Razzaz said, noting that no student from Central Badia has enrolled in any medicine and engineering school for over four years. 

“We know that the quality of education varies from region to region, from public to private, and even from one classroom to another, and the percentile system would enable us to reach some sort of justice,” the minister added. 

The new grading system will be applied next year, enabling universities to decide the threshold score to enter a given major.

Meanwhile, a Tawjihi “questions bank” will be established and the tests will be automated as part of a comprehensive plan to develop the national exam, according to Razzaz. 

With the Tawjihi summer session starting on Tuesday, a total of 125,378 students have registered to sit for the exam in 1,198 halls, the minister said, adding that six additional halls will be allocated to inmates in rehabilitation centres. 

A total of 3,214 Syrian students have also registered for the exam.

Under the ministry’s instruction, students are prohibited from bringing earpieces, mobile phones, recorders, cameras or any other devices to the examination halls.