Education Ministry launches final phase of school development programme

AMMAN — The Ministry of Education on Wednesday launched the final phase of the Canadian-funded School and Directorate Development Programme (SDDP) which aims at institutionalising a school-based development programme.

The SDDP final phase will reach out to 531 new schools in education directorates in Amman, Irbid, Tafileh, Zarqa, Karak, Madaba and Balqa governorates, according to the ministry.

More than 2,600 public schools have been trained, through the Canadian-funded SDDP to work together with their teachers, students and parents to identify local school priorities, and develop and implement individual school improvement plans.

The SDDP was developed by the Education Ministry, with 25 million Canadian dollars in technical and financial support from the School and Directorate Improvement Project (SDIP), through Canada’s department of foreign affairs, trade, and development (DFTAD), ministry officials said.

In remarks to The Jordan Times, Ziyad Tweisi, deputy director of the SDDP, said the project aims at prioritising the exact needs of each school, based on data provided by students, parents and teachers, to set up educational plans and policies.

Tweisi added that 35 education directorates have benefited so far from the SDDP in which they each received JD25,000 to improve their educational tools, environment, and community engagement and interactions.

Michael Callan, deputy head of mission and regional director for DFTAD, said Canada’s long-term support for education in Jordan is beginning to show real results in the way field directorates, schools and communities are working together to resolve local problems and innovate in cost effective ways to improve the quality of schooling.

“The project offers what we have learned in Canada about improving the quality of education to the Jordanian Ministry of Education, in order to foster sustainable strategies for continuous improvement in Jordanian schools,” Callan said.

Speaking at Wednesday’s launch ceremony, Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat emphasised the importance of involving parents and the community in supporting schools to improve the quality of education, highlighting the recent legislation to guide the engagement of community-based education councils.

SDIP Country Director Joan Donaldson said that the SDDP has been successfully implemented in 28 field directorates and over 2,600 schools.

She said the SDDP engages the community in many ways through involvement in school assessment, training all parties involved to support positive interaction and establishing educational development councils.