Majority of applicants to Civil Service Bureau have degrees in humanities — study

AMMAN — Around 70 per cent of the 300,000 job applicants to the Civil Service Bureau have degrees in the humanities, according to a study released Wednesday.

The study also showed that guest workers still occupy vocational, applied and technical jobs at all levels, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Civil Service Bureau president Khalaf Hmeisat said at a press conference that the study of supply and demand of scientific specialisations is aimed at acquainting secondary school graduates with the required and unwanted specialisations in the public sector, adding that the study also provides important indicators of labour market needs.

Most developed countries control the percentage of those who join academic education, ensuring they do not exceed 30 per cent, compared to those who enrol in technical education, unlike the case in other countries where the majority of higher education students join academic specialisations, he added.

Hmeisat stressed the importance of limiting the admission of new students into unwanted specialisations for at least five years, due to the existing large numbers of graduates that can meet the needs of the labour market in these majors for many years, according to Petra.

The Higher Education Ministry is implementing a plan to reform higher education in the Kingdom and direct more students towards technical studies, according to officials.

As part of the plan, the the Kingdom is soon expected to sign an agreement to establish a technical Sino-Jordanian university, the ministry’s secretary general, Hani Dmour, told The Jordan Times earlier this month. 

The agreement will be signed during an official visit to Beijing to embark on establishing the university, Dmour added without disclosing the date of the visit.

The Cabinet on July 14 decided to allocate 1,000 dunums in Jiza for the purpose of building the university. A total of 500 dunums will be allocated for the university and the same for a scientific incubator.

The projected university will comprise three faculties that offer 15 majors, in addition to two specialised centres for research, language teaching and diploma programmes.