This Month’s Topic: – In this month’s newsletter the EdInvest Country Snapshot focuses on Jordan.
Background
Jordan has made great strides in educational attainment over the past several decades and by 2001 had reached a youth literacy rate of ninety-nine percent, compared to an average of eighty-eight percent in the Middle East region. Yet despite substantial increases in literacy and enrollment rates, the gap between Jordan’s highest and lowest performing students is wider than in most neighboring countries, implying unequal learning opportunities (World Bank, 2002).
Other challenges include a rapidly expanding population will continue to add 130,000 new students into the education system and 70,000 new entrants into the labor market every year for the next two decades (UNDP, 2000). Quality as well as provision is a concern. Low scores on international achievement tests spurred the government to undertake major reforms in the education system, resulting in higher scores on subsequent tests.
Government is also addressing the problem of high unemployment among university graduates and a lack of graduates with vocational skills by expanding the number of community colleges and allocating additional funds for English language and computer training.
Access
Basic education is a ten-year cycle and is offered free of charge, as is secondary education. At age fifteen, students wishing to continue past basic education may write the entrance exam for secondary enrollment. Secondary education is optional and students may choose either an academic track, designed to prepare the students for university, or a vocational track which gears students for careers as middle-level technicians. Both streams are two years in duration. Entrance to university is controlled by an examination administered by the Ministry of Education.
By the 1980s, Jordan achieved universal basic education and by 2000 the gross enrollment ratio for grades one through six was 104 percent, while the net enrollment rate reached ninety-six percent in 1999. Secondary enrollment was close to seventy percent by 1998 and higher education enrollment reached twenty percent of the 20-24 year old age group.
High dropout rates remain a problem for youth from low-income families (twenty percent of the population) who experience a much higher dropout rate than middle- and high-income families. Despite ninety-five percent enrolment in the first four grades, twenty percent of low income students will have dropped out by grade 10, and by age 18 less than half remain in school or complete their secondary education.(HDR, 2000).
Jordan has achieved gender parity at all level of education. The ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary enrollment was ninety-seven percent in 2001, with female enrollment reaching forty-seven percent of public university undergraduate enrollment. However, despite these enrollment figures, Jordan falls behind in gender empowerment. Women are demonstrating solid academic performance but do not go find employment in their field — female community college graduates have the highest rate of unemployment at forty-seven percent. (UNESCO, 2000). Indeed, women’s participation in the workforce remains low at twenty-four percent (1999).
The great majority (seventy-three percent) of students are enrolled in public schools run by the Ministry of Education, fourteen percent are enrolled in private schools and twelve percent attend schools run by the UNRWA (United Nations Relief And Works Agency).
Private Provision
By 2000, there were 1,493 private schools, three private four-year colleges and eighteen private universities, which the Jordanian government began licensing in 1990. Amman University being the first private university to open its doors with an enrollment of 1,324 students. (International Higher Education, 1997). By 1998, thirty-five percent of university students attended private institutions.
The quality of private universities is frequently questioned by the public sector institutions. A complaint most frequently voiced about private universities is that their admissions standards are lower, as the qualifying score on the General Secondary School Certificate Examination (GSSCE) is 65 percent for public universities and 60 percent for private universities. It should be noted, however, that in the public universities about 25 percent of the available places are reserved for students in special groups (children of military or Ministry of Education employees, foreign students) who have earned the qualifying score of 65 percent. This practice means many better qualified students lose their public university slots to the less qualified (International Higher Education, 1997).
The highest governing body for private universities. Since 2001, they have been subject to the same accreditation system as public universities which monitors the credential of teaching staff, number of students, equipment and the availability of learning materials.
Private universities do not receive financial support from the government and are subject to an annual tax of twenty-five percent of their profit. They fall under the regulation of the Companies Law as public or private shareholding companies. While there are no regulations regarding employment conditions, private universities generally offer higher salaries, however its teachers are hired on a contract basis without the security of tenure. In contrast, public university faculty (Jordanian nationals) are guaranteed employment for life after two years of service.
Regulation and Administration
Public universities operate under the Jordanian Universities Law No. 29 of 1987 and for private universities the Private Universities Act No. 19 of 1989. Each public university must have a council of deans that is headed by the president and runs the university, a faculty council for each faculty or college, and departmental councils composed of the academic staff of a department. Each university also has a university council (advisory rather than administrative) that includes lay representation and interacts with the public. In addition, each public university has government teaching staff regulations specific to the institution that cover matters such as academic freedom.
Community colleges operated under the Ministry of Higher Education, which was created in 1985 to regulate the operations of all community colleges.
Financing
Public universities are funded heavily from customs duties and license fees. There is also a special "university tax" collected by the Ministry of Finance and distributed annually at the discretion of the Higher Education Council. Tuition and fees make up about a quarter of the budget, but have been kept at relatively low levels and have decreased in real terms over the past several years. In 1997, the current public university deficit was about 30 percent of expenditures in a total budget of J156 million (about U.S.$224 million).
The combination of high demand and limited financial resources results in Jordan’s spending on education taking up a relatively high proportion of its GDP and total public expenditure. In 2001, public expenditure for all levels of education represented 5.6 percent of GDP and seventeen percent of total public expenditure. However, because of the high number of students, purchasing power parity (PPP) is $806USD per student compared to the (World Education Indicators) WEI average of PPP $1,188USD (OECD, 2002).
Quality
In 1990, Jordan became the first Arab country to participate in the International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP II). Results placed Jordan’s eighth grade students third from the bottom in both mathematics and science. The test was re-administered in 1992, with the same poor results. The government used data obtained through the IAEP process to design a comprehensive reform program and create an education management information system. In addition, the National Center for Human Resources Development (NCHRD) now conducts national assessments of education achievement on a regular basis. Availability of data from these various studies has prompted policy-oriented research and publications on education quality.
In 1999, Jordan participated in TIMSS (Third International Mathematics and Science Study) for the first time. The low scores came as a shock. About 75 percent of students in mathematics and about 67 percent of students in science scored lower than the international average. These discouraging results were used to inform efforts to reform educational quality. More specifically, it served to: (a) establish benchmarks of 13-year-olds’ (8th graders) achievement relative to 19 countries; (b) show the areas of weakness and strength in each subject; (c) compare the performance of students in schools run by different authorities, regions and areas; (d) identify cognitive processes and respond with a view to informing teacher training; (e) analyze family and home characteristics associated with student achievement; and (f) target negative and positive influences of classroom practices, out-of school activities, and attitudes.
Renamed as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, TIMSS was conducted again in 2003. The results show that Jordan improved its scores in science and scored comparably higher than countries with similar characteristics especially MENA countries. In fact, Jordan scored above average in science (World Bank, 2005).
At the tertiary level, a new accreditation system launched in 2001 to improve quality and apply the same standard to both public and private institutions. A committee from the Higher Education Council (chaired by the Minister of Education and Higher Education) will grant “general accreditation” to universities successfully evaluated in terms of the number of students and educational and scientific facilities. Another committee will accredit all universities for "specific accreditation" which means monitoring adequate provision of equipment and library materials as well as reviewing the credentials and experience of the teaching staff. Accreditation will be denied to a program which has more than twelve per cent of teachers holding PhDs without experience. Any deficiencies the committee reports must be addressed before the end of semester, otherwise the number of students permitted to enroll in the program may be reduced or the program may be shut down altogether (Jordan Times, 2001).
Reform of the Education Sector
By the 1980s, Jordan was facing a labor market crisis. The country was experiencing high rates of unemployment among educated young people, particularly in medicine, engineering, and teaching. At the same time there was an acute shortage of skilled technical labor. While the government had begun to expand its vocational and technical training programs in the 1970s-80s, skilled laborers left Jordan for lucrative jobs in the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia.
This situation, as well as low test results on international achievement tests, formed King Abdullah’s vision for change and to reshape Jordan as the information technology hub of the region. This requires workers with a different set of skills and therefore the reform of the education system. Four education sector policy vectors were incorporated and transformed into the ambitious reform program:
- Structuring the educational system to ensure lifelong learning;
- Ensuring responsiveness of the educational system to the economy;
- Accessing and utilizing information and communications technologies to support effective learning and system management; and
- Ensuring quality learning experiences and environments.
In 2003, Jordan received over $120 million in World Bank support (total project cost is $360 million provided by various donors) to launch the Education Reform for Knowledge Economy Program. The largest education reform program in World Bank history, its goal is to fundamentally redefine learning outcomes in education at all levels. The objective of the reform is to transform the education system at the early childhood, basic and secondary levels to produce graduates with the skills necessary for the knowledge economy. Reforms include increasing the number of kindergarten classes; development of e-learning capabilities and increased vocational training. A second program, the National Broadband Learning and Research Network, will connect all of Jordan's schools, community colleges, universities, and community access centers in 2006.
Articles
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has gone further that any other American school district to contract education services to the private sector. According to Eduventures, a Boston-based firm that tracks the education industry, Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas is at the forefront of using third parties and for-profit companies. This year, the district is paying out about $80 million for a range of services. Examples include hiring Kaplan Inc., of New York, a leading test-preparation company, to help the district craft a customized high school core curriculum - a national first. See the story by Susan Snyder and Dale Mezzacappa online at:
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/education/11471866.htm
Australia’s University of New South Wales will open a campus in Singapore next year and will be fully operational by 2007. As many as 15,000 students for its undergraduate and postgraduate courses. See the entire story at:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/137907/1/.html
In the United States, more than one-third of school districts take courses over the Internet or through video conferences. This allows districts to offer courses not available locally. Participating students range from high school to elementary school. About 9 percent of public schools have students in distance courses and huge growth is expected. Read more about the results of this new research online at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/03/03/distance.education.ap/index.html
Over 22,000 students enrolled in 37 former government-recognized, private universities in Chhattisgarh, have formed a federation to push for a law to save these institutes that have now lost state support following a Supreme Court ruling. When the Private University Act was passed in 2002, over 100 universities were established, many lacking basic facilities. Last year, the state government formally recognized 37 of the universities. However, a recent Supreme Court ruling stated that the Private University Act, 2002 was unconstitutional, and the state government has refused to back the earlier recognised universities, according to the federation. See the February 20th, 2005 article online at:
http://news.newkerala.com/india-news/?action=fullnews&id=74897
Publications
The European Union has just issued a green paper on public/private partnerships. The aim of this Green Paper is to launch a wide ranging debate to find out whether the Community needs to intervene to ensure that the economic operators in the Member States have better access to the various forms of public private partnership in a situation of legal certainty and effective competition. See the link below:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/publicprocurement/ppp_en.htm
Events
Eduventures is organizing a conference on Competing in Higher Education to be held in Boston June 1-3, 2005. The conference will cover a range of pertinent topics - from online education and postsecondary education market trends, to student recruitment and how non-profits compete and succeed. Keynote speakers include Jack Wilson, CEO of the University of Massachusetts, and Laura Palmer Noone, CEO of the University of Phoenix. For further information see the website:
http://www.eduventures.com/events/che.cfm?pubnav=conferences.
Megaconference Jr., will be hosting its second video conference on May 19, 2005. Megaconference Jr., is a project designed to give students in elementary and secondary schools around the world the opportunity to communicate, collaborate and contribute to each other's learning in real time, using advanced multi-point video conferencing
technology. To find out more, go to their website:
http://megaconferencejr.org/?id=registration
The 8th UKFIET International Conference on Education and Development – Learning and Livelihood will be held in Oxford, UK from September 13-15, 2005. This year’s theme creates a space for comparing the influence of values and purposes of public, private and civil society investment in learning on the later use of human capacities.
For further details, see the website:
http://www.cfbt.com/oxcon2005/index.html
UNESCO’s Education For All Week was April 24 to April 30, 2005. EFA Week is intended to remind governments and the international community to keep their promise to achieve Education for All by 2015. For further details of the week’s events, see the website:
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=38509&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Suzanne Roddis (send comments to edinvest@ifc.org )
