2-day policy dialogue concluded for education sector in Jordan

AMMAN — The Ministry of Education successfully concluded a two-day policy dialogue with partners and national stakeholders to assess progress of the National Education Strategic Plan (ESP),  including the impact of COVID-19, lessons learned and impact of the plan implementation.

Under the Ministry’s leadership and with technical support of UNESCO and it’s International Institute for Education Planning (IIEP), this mid-term review of the Education Strategic Plan constitutes an important element of evidence-based decision-making, building on the review of progress made and the effectiveness of educational performance against defined goals and objectives, according to a UNESCO statement. 

This policy dialogue brought together MoE decision-makers, key education partners and national stakeholders to reach collective agreements and recommendations for adjustments to the plan for the remaining period of its implementation until 2025.

Opening the event, Minister of Education Wajih Owais reiterated the importance of key national plans linked to the Education Strategic Plan, such as the Education During Emergency Plan, the Jordan Response Plan for Syrian Refugees and the Human Resources Development Strategy. 

Through the mid-term review, the minister noted that adjustments to the ESP will need to focus on mitigating the impact of the pandemic on learning and to re-identify priorities  for the up-coming period, as well as needed financial and human resources. 

The minister also emphasised the critical aspects of the vocational education and technical skills for quality education for young females and males.

UNESCO Representative to Jordan Min Jeong Kim highlighted during the closing ceremony that, “The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how important it is to strengthen systems and capacities to be better prepared to respond to immediate needs in a time of crisis while still focusing on longer strategic goals to build back better in terms of access, equity, inclusion and quality of education.”

System strengthening is the focus of UNESCO’s technical support and partnership with the Ministry of Education, including strengthening of the MoE’s Education Management Information System (EMIS), evidence based planning and monitoring, including crisis-sensitive planning, and support to the ESP Partnership and Coordination Structure. 

It is provided through the Multi-Partner Trust Fund to system strengthening  supported by Canada, Switzerland, Italy and Norway.  

As a result of this joint policy dialogue, key strategic directions for the remaining implementation of the Education Strategic Plan were outlined as: The universalisation of KG2;  The development of financially and technically sustainable public-private partnership models to ensure school infrastructure expansion to accommodate all children in Jordan and especially the most vulnerable learners, children with disabilities and refugees, at KG, basic and secondary education levels, including vocational education.

The strategic directions also include the increased engagement by the community, field directorates and the central administration in the local school development process; the continued efforts in e-tech and remedial education; and the strengthening of EMIS to allow for evidence-based planning and monitoring, read the statement.

The meeting was concluded by awarding training certificates to all Ministry of Education members of the Technical Working Groups who led on the different steps of the ESP mid-term review, from data collection, data analysis to recommendations and adjustments discussed at the policy dialogue event.