Thabahtoona criticises higher education strategy

AMMAN — More than 50 per cent of university students are enrolled as “exceptions”, reaching 70 per cent with the parallel programme, according to the National Campaign for Defending Students’ Rights, “Thabahtoona”.

Thabahtoona Coordinator Fakher Daas charged at a press conference on Saturday that the strategy the Higher Education Ministry plans to implement for the next five years is only “commercial” and “has nothing to do with education”. 

“The strategy set by the Ministry of Higher Education includes raising tuition fees, which leads to class divisions in the country,” Daas told The Jordan Times.

“Most of the students who belong to the upper class major in medicine, while the lower classes choose majors from the humanitarian departments because they cannot afford other majors regardless of their scores,” he said.

Medical students at the University of Jordan (UJ) pay JD45 per credit hour for the regular undergraduate programme and JD200 for the parallel programme, according to Daas. 

Credit hour fees for other majors in the regular programme at UJ range between JD16 and JD60, depending on the faculty, while they range between JD60 and JD200 for the parallel programme.

Students whose score in the General Secondary Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) does not qualify them to study specific subjects at public universities have the choice to apply through the parallel programme.

“Almost one-third of citizens’ salaries each year go to university tuition fees, which does not make sense since the pay they receive is not enough for basic necessities,” Daas said.

“The continuous rise in tuition fees will result in a gap between students of different social classes, leading to more violence on campuses,” he argued.

Daas added that the strategy proposes basing university admission on criteria other than the Tawjihi score.

“Replacing Tawjihi results with university exams is definitely not a good idea... Tawjihi is still the only source the Jordanian citizen fully trusts,” he said.

Mahmoud Dmour, from UJ’s student union, told The Jordan Times that the administration reduced some fees by 15 per cent, but said they are still unaffordable to some.

“Education has become a bourgeois privilege; citizens who receive less than tuition fees as a monthly salary cannot afford it,” Dmour added.

He charged that the priority in registration at public and private universities goes to those who pay and not those who have “academic competence”.

“If UJ proceeds with this decision, all public universities will, and a crisis will take place in the country due to lack of education,” Dmour argued.