Education Ministry 'ready' for possible snowfall during Tawjihi winter session

AMMAN — The Education Ministry on Wednesday announced its preparedness to run a "smooth" Tawjihi exam session even in case of snowfall.

With the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) expecting a polar front to affect the Kingdom on Thursday, which marks the second day of the start of the General Secondary Certificate Examination, the ministry said it is "well prepared for the worst case scenario".

"However, if we found that there is a need to postpone one of the exams in a particular area due to the weather conditions, we will postpone it at the national level," the ministry's spokesperson, Walid Jallad, told The Jordan Times.

The JMD noted that the impact of the polar front is expected to deepen on Friday, while the weather will start to gradually stabilise as of Saturday night.

Some 115,000 students sat for the Tawjihi exam on Wednesday.

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat paid a visit to two schools and checked on students, noting that the first day of the exam "went normally with the highest degree of discipline", the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

A total of 1,426 examination halls in the Kingdom have been equipped for this session, in addition to one hall outside the country in Tunisia.

Twenty-seven inmates at the Kingdom's correctional and rehabilitation centres are sitting for the current Tawjihi winter session, according to Petra.

A total of 158,819 students have registered for the Tawjihi winter session, Thneibat said earlier this week.