Jordan

Partners situated in Jordan

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Jordan in a nutshell

Jordan (Arabic: الأردنّ‎ al-'Urdunn), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. It shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the north-east, the West Bank (Palestine) and Israel to the west, and Saudi Arabia to the east and south. It shares control of the Dead Sea with Israel, and the coastline of the Gulf of Aqaba with Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

Much of Jordan is covered by desert, particularly the Arabian Desert; however the north-western area, with the Jordan River, is regarded as part of the Fertile Crescent.

The capital city of Amman is in the north-west.

The population of Jordan is just over 6 million - thus rather similar in size to many smaller European countries. Jordan is classified by the World Bank as a "lower middle income country." The per-capita GDP was approximately USD $5,100 for 2007 and 14.5% of the economically active population, on average, was unemployed in 2003. Education and literacy rates and measures of social well-being are very high compared to other countries with similar incomes. Jordan's population growth rate is high, but has declined in recent years, to approximately 2.8% currently. One of the most important factors in the government’s efforts to improve the well-being of its citizens is the macroeconomic stability that has been achieved since the 1990s. However, unemployment rates remain high, with the official figure standing at 12.5%, and the unofficial around 30%. Rates of price inflation are low, at 2.3% in 2003, and the currency has been stable with an exchange rate fixed to the U.S. dollar since 1995.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a constitutional monarchy with representative government. The reigning monarch is the head of state, the chief executive and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The king exercises his executive authority through the prime ministers and the Council of Ministers, or cabinet. The cabinet, meanwhile, is responsible before the elected House of Deputies which, along with the House of Notables (Senate), constitutes the legislative branch of the government. The judicial branch is an independent branch of the government.

Administratively, Jordan is divided into 12 provinces called governorates, each headed by a governor appointed by the king. They are the sole authorities for all government departments and development projects in their respective areas.

Demographics

Some 95-98% of Jordan's population are Arabs (60-80% of the population is Syro-Palestinian), the remaining non-Arabs of the population are mainly Circassians, Chechens, Armenians,Kurds and Gypsies, but have integrated into the Jordanian and Arab cultures in the country.

The number of Lebanese permanently settling in Jordan since the 2006 Lebanon War has not been established, and is estimated to be very little. According to Labour Ministry figures, the number of guest workers in the country now stands just over 300,000 - most are Egyptians who makeup 227,000 of the foreign workers, and the remaining 36,150 workers are mostly from Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka and India. Since the Iraq War many Christians (Assyrians and Chaldeans) from Iraq have settled permanently or temporarily in Jordan.

Jordanian Christians permanently residing in Jordan form approximately 6% of the population and are allocated respective seats in parliament (The Department of Statistics has released no information about the religion distribution from the census of 2004). Most Christians belong to the Greek Orthodox church (called "Ruum Urthudux" in Arabic). The rest are Roman Catholics (called "Lateen"), Eastern Catholics who are Melkites (called "Ruum Katoleek" to distinguish them from "Western Catholics"), and various Protestant communities including Baptists.

Christians in Jordan are of many nationalities, as evinced, for example, by the Catholic mass being celebrated in Arabic, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Tagalog and Sinhala, as well as in Iraqi dialects of Arabic.

Other Jordanians belonging to religious minorities include adherents to the Druze and Bahá'í Faith. The Druze are mainly located in the Eastern Oasis Town of Azraq and the city of Zarka, while the Village of Adassiyeh bordering the Jordan Valley is home to Jordan's Bahá'í community.

The official language is Arabic, but English is used widely in commerce and government and among educated people. English is widely understood among most Jordanians, although the degree to which varies with educational level and demographic concentration. Middle and upper class citizens tend to be fluent and consider English as their second language. Arabic and English are obligatory studies at public and private schools.

French is taught at some public and private schools but is not obligatory. However, a vibrant Francophone community seems to have emerged in modern Jordan. Radio Jordan offers radio services in Arabic, English and French.

Jordan education policy

The Ministry of Education (MoE) is responsible for the pre-primary, primary and secondary levels of education. The post-secondary education is the responsibility of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MoHESR). This Ministry includes the Higher Education Council and the Accreditation Council. The MoHESR has outlined a National Strategy for Higher Education for the years 2007-2012.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) at the post-basic level (excluding community colleges) as well as applied vocational education, administered by the Vocational Training Corporation(VTC), is under the authority of the Ministry of Labor.

In 2003 the share of budget dedicated to education was 6.4 percent of total government expenditure; education spending as a percentage of GDP was 13.5 percent in the same year. At 8.9 percent, Jordan has the third lowest illiteracy rate in the Arab world. The primary gross enrollment ratio has increased from 71 percent in 1994 to 98.2 percent in 2006. Transition rate to secondary school, during the same period, has increased from 63 percent to 97 percent and transition rates to higher education have varied between 79 to 85 percent of secondary school graduates. Along with these high enrollment and transition rates, Jordan has achieved a 90 percent parity in literacy and full parity in primary and secondary enrollment.

Jordan is ranked 90 out of 177 in the Human Development Index. Despite strained resources, the Ministry of Education developed highly advanced national curriculum and many other nations in the region have developed their education system using Jordan as a model. Jordan ranks number one in the Arab World. The Jordanian Ministry of Education is now making it mandatory for students to be computer literate and able to apply their studies in computers to their regular studies, most especially the scientific and mathematical courses. Its educational system is of international standards and its secondary education program is accepted in world-class universities.

Jordan education system

The structure of the educational system in Jordan consists of a two-year cycle of pre-school education, ten years of compulsory basic education, and two years of secondary academic or vocational education after which the students sit for a General Certificate of Secondary Education Exam—Tawjihi.

Basic Education

Basic Education is a 10-year compulsory level of education. Study books are standard books distributed by the Ministry of Education.In Jordan education is free in primary and secondary and is made compulsory for all through the age of fifteen.

More than half of the Jordan population is below the age of 30 years. About 42.2 percent are 14 years or younger, whereas 31.4 percent fall between 15–29 years of age; almost one-third of the Jordanians are enrolled in educational facilities. As of 2007/2008 the gross primary enrollment rate is 95.7 percent which is higher than the regional average of 93 percent. Jordan also ensures a high level of gender parity in access to basic services; the gender parity index for gross enrollment ratio in primary education is 0.98, better than other Arab countries. It is also one of the few Arab countries that have very small disparity in primary school attendance rates among urban and rural areas.This is mainly because public financing for basic schooling is more pro-poor than that for any other education level. Schools in Jordan have two main categories, public and private. The private education sector accommodates more than 31.14 percent of the student population in the capital of Jordan, Amman. This sector is still heavily taxed, up to 25%++, although it takes a high burden off the government of the Kingdom, which makes school fees relatively high, starting at $1000, and going up to $7000. These values for private education fees are extremely high when compared to the average family incomes.

Secondary Education

Students in this education level are required to take 9 subjects; Arabic, English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Computer Studies, Earth Science, Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. Islamic studies are also mandatory for all students except for Christian students. The Secondary Education level consists of two years' study for students aged 16 to 18 who have completed the basic cycle (10 years) and comprises two major tracks:

1. Secondary education, which can either be academic or vocational. At the end of the two-year period, students sit for the general secondary examination (Tawjihi) in the appropriate branch and those who pass are awarded the Tawjihi (General Secondary Education Certificate). The academic stream qualifies students for entrance to universities, whereas the vocational or technical type qualifies for entrance to Community Colleges or universities or the job market, provided they pass the two additional subjects.
2. Vocational secondary education, which provides intensive vocational training and apprenticeship, and leads to the award of a Certificate (not the Tawjihi).

Enrollments rates at secondary level have remained fairly constant since 2002 at around 89 percent. In terms of enrollment by gender, girls’ enrollment rate is higher than the enrollment rates for boys. In 2007 there were 91 percent females enrolled in secondary education compared to 88 percent of males. As can be seen from the chart below, the secondary enrollment rates are higher than the regional average by almost 25 percentage points. The enrollment in secondary vocational education as a share of total secondary enrollment declined from 18 percent in 2000 to 12 percent in 2005. This shows that government needs to put in greater efforts to realign the national vocational program with reforms initiated by the Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs and Higher Education and Scientific Research to impart skills sought after by employers when hiring new workers.

Jordan still needs to focus on improving the quality of primary and secondary education levels. In international assessments, such as TIMSS and PISA, Jordan has performed well in comparison to other Arab countries, but it falls below many countries with comparable incomes and education expenditures. Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Report in 2003, ranked Jordanian students scores to be 22 points above international average in science and mathematics. However, up to 30 percent of students drop out before the completion of the 12th grade. Despite highly equitable primary education, secondary level and vocational training still reflect gender and income distortions. Completion and transition rates to tertiary education are highly correlated with family incomes; there are 3 times more students at the university level from families in upper two income quintiles.

UNRWA in Jordan

UNRWA operates one of the largest school systems in the Middle East providing basic and preparatory education to Palestinian refugees for nearly five decades. The Agency provides basic education free of charge to all Palestinian refugee children in the area of operations, including Jordan. There are also vocational and training courses provided in eight training centers, two of which are in Jordan, for the past four decades. The Agency has established an Institute of Education, which is headquartered in Amman, to provide training to the UNRWA teaching staff. In Jordan, not all refugee children attend UNRWA schools. Most of the refugees have access to government schools; therefore a number of refugees send their children to nearby government schools. Most of the UNRWA schools run on more than single shift. Approximately 83 percent of UNRWA elementary schools and 62 percent of UNRWA preparatory schools are operated in full double shifts. The Jordan Field has the highest percentage of double shift schools, averaging about 93 percent.

Foreign secondary education programmes

After completing the 8 or 10 years of basic education, Jordanians are free to choose any foreign secondary education program instead of the Tawjihi examinations (8 for IGCSE, 10 for SAT and IB). Such programmes are usually offered by private schools. These programmes include: IGCSE, SAT and International Baccalaureate

Private schools in Jordan used to offer GCSE examinations, but they have now been replaced by IGCSE examinations.

Upon graduation, the ministry of Higher Education, through a system similar to UK tariff points, transforms the grades/marks of these foreign educational programmes into the same marks used in grading Tawjihi students. This system is controversial, both as to the conversion process and the number of places allocated to non-Tawjihi applicants.

Another source of trouble is the system used to transform exam results of foreign education programmes into the Tawjihi scale, which is expressed as a percentage. Again, some see the system as fair or overly lenient to non-Tawjihi graduates, while others see it as unfair.

Higher education

At present, there are eight public universities plus two newly licensed ones, and thirteen private universities plus four newly licensed ones.

Private universities are authorized to confer Bachelor's degree whereas public universities can confer Bachelor's degree as well as Master's and Doctorate's degrees.

The University of Jordan was the first public university of Jordan and Amman University was the first private university of Jordan.

All post-secondary education is the responsibility of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. The Ministry includes the Higher Education Council and the Accreditation Council.

Access to higher education is open to holders of the General Secondary Education Certificate who can then apply to private community colleges, public community colleges or universities (public and private) - but the admission to public universities is very competitive. The credit-hour system, which entitles students to select courses according to a study plan, is implemented at universities.

Universities in Jordan

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Jordan for a list, but incomplete, and with many missing links.

Yahoo lists the following nine, probably deemed to be more important:

1. Hashemite University - http://www.hu.edu.jo
2. Philadelphia University, a private institution for higher education - http://www.philadelphia.edu.jo
3. Queen Alia College - http://www.qac.index.com.jo
4. Zarka Private University - http://www.zpu.edu.jo
5. Mutah University - http://www.mutah.edu.jo
6. Yarmouk University - http://www.yu.edu.jo
7. Al al-Bayt University - http://www.aabu.edu.jo
8. University of Jordan - http://www.ju.edu.jo
9. Princess Sumaya University for Technology - http://www.psut.edu.jo/

There is also the Jordan Branch of the Arab Open University - http://www.aou.edu.jo/

Finally note the German-Jordanian University - http://www.gju.edu.jo/Default.aspx?lang=en

Private universities include:

1. Princess Sumaya University of Technology
2. Petra University
3. Jordan Academy of Music
4. Irbid University
5. University College of Educational Sciences
6. Amman University
7. Applied Science University
8. Philadelphia University
9. Amman Arab university for Graduate Studies

Polytechnics in Jordan

Some in the above list might more properly be described as polytechnics.

Higher education reform

The Bologna Process

A seminar was held on this in 2008 at the German-Jordanian University.

Jordan's HEIs in the information society

Information society strategy

There are initiatives in schools e-learning that are well known to analysts but less is known on HE e-learning.

The Jordan Education Initiative for schools is described at http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2005/ts_012805.html

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

The Arab Open University has a regional centre in Jordan.

Interesting Programmes

The Hashemite University has an active e-learning operation and seems to be doing as much as many European universities - see the presentation at http://linc.mit.edu/conference/presentations/mosleh_akhasawneh.ppt

Jordan University of Science and Technology was a partner in the Mediterranean Virtual University.

Al-Balqa' Applied University, a public university, is also active in e-learning.

Re.ViCa Case-study

None.

References

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