AMMAN — The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is implementing a gradual plan to enable Tawjihi graduates to apply directly to the university programme of their choice, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Wajih Owais said.
The plan, which Owais said will also allow university faculties to conduct placement tests as an additional criterion for admission beyond the Tawjihi score, is being piloted at the Jordan University of Science and Technology’s (JUST) architecture and architectural engineering programme.
In a recent interview with The Jordan Times, Owais said students can apply to this programme directly through JUST and sit for a placement test, rather than applying through the Unified Admission Committee.
Next year, he added, admission to all faculties of medicine will be handled directly through universities.
The new system is part of the National Strategy to Develop Higher Education.
“We want students to study subjects they like, not only because their Tawjihi grade qualified them to study a certain subject,” Owais said, adding however that there will still be minimum Tawjihi scores for admission to any university.
The minimum score required to study architecture and architectural engineering at JUST is 80 per cent, according to Natheer Abu Obeid, dean of the college of architecture and design at JUST.
The application period for this college began on Tuesday and will be open until next Tuesday, after which applicants will be called for a placement test, Abu Obeid said.
The test will assess whether the students have the needed creative and visual communication skills to study architecture, he said, adding that accepting students based on a placement test will help improve the quality of graduates.
For more information about admissions criteria, students can visit the university’s website: http://www.just.edu.jo.
Mariam David says:
Finally someone has the vision to make a change in the system of education in Jordan. There are those who may not score in the 90th percentile and yet make good doctors. I really applaud Dr. Owais for his vision in trying to gradually steer Jordan educational system in the modern era.