Students' reactions vary after first week of Tawjihi

AMMAN — This year’s Tawjihi (the General Secondary Certificate Examination) summer session, which started on June 24, has drawn mixed reactions from students after the completion of three exams.

Eman, a Tawjihi student in the scientific stream who preferred to go by first name, said that the exams have been more difficult than she expected. 

"I thought that the exams will be a bit easier like last year's," she told The Jordan Times. 

"This time, the exams were more difficult and needed more time," she added.

Talal, another Tawjihi student who preferred to go by the first name too, said that he “was very nervous in the first exam". 

"To be honest, the questions were very specific and not what I expected to come," he told The Jordan Times about the chemistry exam the scientific stream took last week.

However, not all the exams were as hard for all students. Layan, who is a student in the scientific stream, said that the first exam was very easy. 

"Chemistry was the hardest compared with previous years," she told The Jordan Times. 

"Other exams, like English, were very easy," she added.

Secretary-general of the Ministry of Education for educational affairs, Nawaf Al Ajarmah, in a television interview, said that the assigned time for each exam is set by the same individuals who prepared the questions for each exam.

Ajarmah added that many students gained the full grade, especially in the chemistry exam which some students complained about, and that the passing percentage in the same exam has reached 80 per cent.

Some Tawjihi students like Sara have not found any problems. "The exams were manageable and the time frame of each exam was excellent," Sara, a Tawjihi student in the literary stream, told The Jordan Times.

Almost all students said that the ministry took all safety precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. 

Bani, a Tawjihi student, told The Jordan Times that the school was clean and administrators checked every student’s body temperature. 

Zayna, another Tawjihi student, also said that all safety precautions were taken. However, she complained that it was very crowded when they exited the building after the exam.

The students, mainly in the scientific stream, have so far sat for Islamic studies, Chemistry, and English. The exams will end on July 15.