Council amends residency duration for PhD students outside Jordan

AMMAN — The Higher Education Council has recently decided that the mandatory duration of residency for postgraduate students outside Jordan would be cut to one month from two months after the council received a recommendation last week.

The decision came after a group of doctoral students studying outside of Jordan sent a memorandum demanding a reduction in their stay in host countries.

Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Walid Maani told The Jordan Times that a decision was made to facilitate students studying outside Jordan, with the remaining eight months remaining unchanged to maintain the quality of education.

“This decision was taken to take into account students’ conditions and the nature of their work in the public and private sectors,” he said, stressing that the decision only concerns students of social and human sciences.

Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education Ahed Wahdni underlined that the Council of Education took the decision to reduce the period without changing the full length of residency required for 8 months, because students need to meet with their supervisors face to face in their countries of study.

Wahdni added that the decision takes into account the need to expand students’ cultural immersion to help them develop their personality as a doctoral student.

Wahid Abu Haidar, a PhD student in Tunisia, expressed his satisfaction with the decision.

“The memo was based on two basic demands: the first was the minimum period of stay of two months which became a month; the second was the reduction of the full period,” he said, calling on the ministry to look into the mandatory full duration period and reduce it to less than 8 months.