Inclusive Education Guideline Manual for public schools launched

AMMAN — The Ministry of Education and Mercy Corps on Tuesday launched the Inclusive Education Guideline Manual for public schools in Jordan.

The Inclusive Education Manual aims to support Jordanian and Syrian children with disabilities who attend public schools.

The manual seeks to create better opportunities and experiences by allowing students from different backgrounds to share one classroom, according to a presentation at the launch event. 

In his address at the launch ceremony, Education Minister Wajih Owais said: “We are delighted to equip the students and teachers at public schools in the Kingdom with the Inclusive Education Manual that will contribute to the students’ social skills and help promote diversity in public schools.”

Mercy Corps Jordan Country Director Kari Diener said that guaranteeing equal opportunities through inclusive education is the most effective way to give all children an opportunity to learn, play and develop their skills.

Presenting the manual, Maisa Asmar, education programme manager at Mercy Corps, said: “We have been working on this programme for over a decade, and have included thousands of students from different backgrounds in the Inclusive Education Programme.”

Asmar noted that a part of implementing the programme was to work on enhancing the infrastructure of the schools, in addition to an intensive training that included the main teachers, shadow teachers and teacher assistants.

“Over 100 schools benefited from the programme, covering all 12 Jordanian governorates,” Asmar stated.

Jordan is a pioneering country in the Inclusive Education in the Middle East Region, the manual said.

Over 237 teacher assistants have been trained and hired under the programme, providing online sessions for 1,874 students with disabilities during COVID-19 remote learning education period, according to the manual, of which a copy was given to The Jordan Times.