‘Higher Education Ministry to complete digitisation of services by end of 2018’

AMMAN — As part of the government’s plan to launch an e-government, the Ministry of Higher Education will complete digitisation of its services and departments by the end of 2018, ministry Secretary General Ahed Wahadneh told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

The ministry will launch an online equivalence certificate service on January 10, that will enable Jordanian holders of foreign certificates to obtain their equivalence certificates without the need to visit the ministry’s departments, Wahadneh said.

The new system will save time and effort for Jordanian expats and citizens, he noted. 

The online  procedure includes submitting an application from any part of the world, upload documents and send them to the ministry through an electronic system to receive an equivalence certificate. 

The service, which will be available on the ministry’s website (www.mohe.gov.jo), will also provide the applicant with regular updates through text and online messages. In addition, the ministry will also offer an online payment service. 

Wahadneh said that in 2017 the ministry certified and equalled 1 million certificates.   

Abdelmajeed Fauri, a holder of BA degree in Business Marketing from the University of Nottingham Trent University, the UK, said that since he graduated in 2013 he has been hesitant to apply for an equivalence certificate because of the long procedures, and it will be further delayed in case of any missing document.

Fauri is optimistic that the online system “would make things easier”.

Haya Mueen, a holder of Drama and Theatre degree from England’s University of Essex, said that she tried to obtain an equivalence certificate before but failed due to not fulfilling the requirements. She added that she might try again through the online service as the equivalence certificates is necessary to apply for a government job. 

Wahadneh noted that the ministry is developing an authentication system for certificates through (Quick Response Code) QR Code to prevent any forgery of certificates. 

‘Virtual university’

The government supports online courses in the universities which amount to 25 per cent of university programmes as the current legislation does not allow full-online programmes Wahadneh told The Jordan Times over the phone.

He noted that the ministry might consider establishing a “virtual university” in the future, but for the time being it is not plausible as it requires legislation.