Higher Education Ministry mulls increasing Tawjihi score required for studying medicine abroad

AMMAN — The Ministry of Higher Education is mulling increasing the minimum General Secondary Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) score required for admission to medical schools abroad to 85, an official said Sunday.

Mahmoud Khalaileh, the ministry’s spokesperson, told The Jordan Times the move aims to improve the quality of graduates studying abroad and to facilitate the accreditation process.

“The minimum averages for studying medicine abroad should be similar to averages for studying at local universities in order to grant students equal opportunities to education,” Khalaileh said, adding that the ministry’s committees will study the idea further for application in the next academic year. 

The ministry does not have a record of the number of Jordanian students studying medicine abroad, but the official said most Jordanian students study medicine in Ukraine, Egypt and Yemen.    

The current minimum Tawjihi score for studying medicine abroad is 70. 

Meanwhile, Jordan Medical Association (JMA) President Hashem Abu Hassan said the move would be “unfair if applied” to students who got Tawjihi scores below 85 and wish to study medicine, calling for engaging the association in the discussion of such decisions.

“Many Jordanian doctors who have studied medicine over the past 50 years and advanced the medical sector in Jordan are graduates of foreign universities with Tawjihi scores below 85,” Abu Hassan told The Jordan Times.

If the decision is enforced, it will create “major confusion” as it contradicts JMA law, which allows the membership of medical school graduates with Tawjihi scores over 70.

“Excellence in medicine comes with practice,” Hassan noted.

According to JMA figures made available to The Jordan Times upon request, a total of 20,283 of the association’s 26,840 members, working in Jordan and other countries, are holders of degrees from non-Jordanian universities.